Lia Fáil

Coordinates: 53°34′43.1″N 6°36′43.7″W / 53.578639°N 6.612139°W / 53.578639; -6.612139
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the political party, see Lia Fáil (political party).

Lia Fáil
Speaking Stone, Coronation Stone
Fál (Ireland/destiny)
LocationHill of Tara
Coordinates53°34′43.1″N 6°36′43.7″W / 53.578639°N 6.612139°W / 53.578639; -6.612139
Elevation155 metres (509 ft)
Height1 metre (3 ft 3 in)
Original usecoronation stone
Lia Fáil is located in Ireland
Lia Fáil

The Fál (Irish:

Muirchertach mac Ercae
, c. 500 AD.

Mythical origin

There are several different, and conflicting, legends in

The Dagda's Cauldron
.

Some Scottish chroniclers, such as

Dalriada
, had by this time expanded to include the north-east part of Ulster and parts of western Scotland. Not long after Fergus's coronation in Scotland, he and his inner circle were caught in a freak storm off the County Antrim coast in which all perished. The stone remained in Scotland, which is why Murtagh MacEirc is recorded in history as the last Irish King to be crowned on it.

However, historian William Forbes Skene commented: "It is somewhat remarkable that while the Scottish legend brings the stone at Scone from Ireland, the Irish legend brings the stone at Tara from Scotland."[2]

The Dindsenchas, recording a tradition from early Irish literature and echoing ancient legends, reports that Lia Fáil would roar in the presence of a false king pretending to hold dominion in Ireland.[3]

According to one version of Gaelic Myth surrounding the Lia Fáil stone, a myth more associated with the Stone of Scone, the sacred stone arrived by ship belonging to the Iberian Danaan into the ancient port of Carrickfergus about 580 BC. On board was Eochaidh, son of a High King and a descendant of Érimón, Princess Tea Tephi and the scribe Simon Brauch. Princess Tea also had in her possession an ancient harp, whose origins some believe lie in the House of David. The stone was delivered to the Hill of Tara by the three. Scota later married High King Eochaidh, both had previously met each other in Jerusalem. Eochaidh recovered the ancient stone in Jerusalem before the invasion of the Babylonians. It is said all future Irish High Kings/British Monarchs inaugurated by the stone have tried to prove lineage back to the Royal Sage and his wife, Tea Tephi, the original bearers of the stone. Eochaidh's resting place is said to be in the Neolithic passage tomb, Cairn T at Loughcrew.[4][5]

Mythical powers

The Lia Fáil was thought to be

Cúchulainn split it with his sword when it failed to cry out under his protégé, Lugaid Riab nDerg — from then on it never cried out again, except under Conn of the Hundred Battles[6] and according to legend, at the coronation of Brian Boru
in 1002.

Inis Fáil

"Inisfail" redirects here. For other uses, see Innisfail.

The stone was originally called Fál, a word of obscure meaning;[7] the Dictionary of the Irish Language distinguishes the word from five homonyms in Old Irish and Middle Irish, which have respective meanings "barrier", "chieftain", "abundance", "learning", and "valley".[8] It is from this stone the Tuatha Dé Danann metonymically named Ireland Inis Fáil ("island of Fál"), and from this Fál became an ancient name for Ireland.[1] The stone in turn by reverse metonymy was named Lia Fáil "[Standing] Stone of Ireland". Inisfail appears as a synonym for Erin in some Irish romantic and nationalist poetry in English in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; Aubrey Thomas de Vere's 1863 poem Inisfail is an example.

The fianna [warrior-band] of the Fenian Cycle, though usually simply "the Fianna", was sometimes poetically called Fianna Fáil "Fianna of Ireland". Hence Fianna Fáil was a sobriquet for modern Irish nationalist militias; for the Irish Volunteers it was an Irish-language alternative to Óglaigh na hÉireann, and the initials FF used on their cap badge have been retained on that of the current Irish Army. In Amhrán na bhFiann ["The Soldier's Song"], the republic's national anthem, the opening "Soldiers are We" is translated "Sinne Fianna Fáil". For similar reasons, Fianna Fáil is the name of a major political party in the republic.[9] The identification of the Lia Fáil with the Scottish "Stone of Destiny" has fostered the misapprehension that "Fá[i]l" means "[of] Destiny", and hence Fianna Fáil is rendered "Soldiers of Destiny".[10]

Vandalism

Sometime in June 2012, the stone was damaged by a hammer in 11 places.[11] It was vandalised again in May 2014 when green and red paint was poured on the stone covering at least 50% of its surface.[12][13]

The stone was vandalised again c. 6–7 February 2023 when the word "Fake" was spray painted on the stone.[14][15]

See also

  • Stone of Scone – the "Stone of Destiny" for coronation of Scottish, English, and British monarchs
  • Coronation Stone, Kingston upon Thames (England)
  • Stones of Mora – where the Swedish kings were elected
  • Prince's Stone – where the princes of Carantania and dukes of Carinthia were installed
  • Sword in the stone (King Arthur)
    – which also revealed the rightful king
  • Blarney Stone – a tourist attraction said to endow those kissing it with the "gift of the gab"

References

  1. ^ a b c d Patrick Weston Joyce (1911). The Lia Fáil or Coronation Stone of Tara. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b William Forbes Skene: The Coronation Stone. Edmonston & Douglas, 1869. p. 23
  3. ^ Book of Leister pp. 9–13.
  4. ^ "Ollam Fodhla and Company". United Church of God. 29 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Jeremiah, Ireland: CHAPTER VI. IRELAND (Tara)". www.originofnations.org.
  6. ^ "Lebor Gabala Erenn pt 4". www.maryjones.us.
  7. ISSN 0030-0691
    .
  8. ^ "fál". eDIL: electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language. Royal Irish Academy.
  9. ISBN 978-0-09-104660-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  10. ^ Mac Lochlainn, Antain (3 June 2015). "Mífhortún lucht na Gaeilge — níl smacht againn ar ár n-íomhá féin". Tuairisc.ie (in Irish). Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  11. ^ Louise Hogan (14 June 2012). "Hammer vandals damage 5,500-year-old 'Stone of Destiny'". independent.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  12. ^ "5,000-year-old standing stone vandalised in Meath". rte.ie. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Lia Fáil on Hill of Tara in County Meath vandalised". BBC News. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  14. ^ 'Mindless vandalism' at Hill of Tara condemned RTÉ News, 2023-02-08.
  15. ^ Vandalism of Hill of Tara standing stone a ‘desecration’ The Irish Times, 2023-02-07.

Further reading

  • FitzPatrick, Elizabeth. Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100–1600. Woodbridge, 2004.
  • Nitze, William A. "The Siege Perilleux and the Lia Fáil or 'Stone of Destiny'." Speculum 31 (1956): 258 ff.
  • Ó Broin, Tomás. "Lia Fáil: fact and fiction in tradition." Celtica 21 (1990): 393–401.
  • Bondarenko, Grigory. "Lia Fáil and other stones: symbols of power in Ireland and their origins".[1]

External links

  1. S2CID 165547494
    .
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