The Fál (Irish: [fˠaːlˠ]) or Lia Fáil (Irish: [ˌl̠ʲiə ˈfˠaːlʲ]; "Stone of Fál") is a stone at the Inauguration Mound (Irish: an Forrad) on the Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, which served as the coronation stone for the King of Tara and hence High King of Ireland. It is also known as the Stone of Destiny or Speaking Stone.[1] According to legend, all of the kings of Ireland were crowned on the stone up to Muirchertach mac Ercae, c. 500 AD.
| Lia Fáil | |
|---|---|
| Speaking Stone, Coronation Stone | |
 The stone currently standing on the Hill of Tara identified with the historical Lia Fáil | |
| Type | Standing stone |
| Etymology | Irish: Stone of Fál (Ireland/destiny) |
| Location | hill of Tara |
| Coordinates | 53°34′43.1″N 6°36′43.7″W / 53.578639°N 6.612139°W |
| Elevation | 155 metres (509 ft) |
| Height | 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) |
| Original use | coronation stone |
  Location of Lia Fáil in Ireland | |
Geology
editArchibald Geikie noted resemblances to the calcareous red sandstone of which the Stone of Scone is composed;[2] it is not currently believed the stones originated from connected quarry sites.[citation needed] It has also been identified as a whitish granitoid.[needs independent confirmation]
Mythical origin
editThere are several different, and conflicting, legends in Irish mythology describing how the Lia Fáil is said to have been brought to Ireland.[3] The Lebor Gabala, dating to the eleventh century, states that it was brought in antiquity by the semi-divine race known as the Tuatha Dé Danann. The Tuatha Dé Danann had travelled to the "Northern Isles" where they learned many skills and magic in its four cities Falias, Gorias, Murias and Findias. From there they travelled to Ireland bringing with them a treasure from each city – the four legendary treasures of Ireland. From Falias came the Lia Fáil. The other three treasures are the Claíomh Solais or Sword of Light, the Sleá Bua or Spear of Lugh and the Coire Dagdae or The Dagda's Cauldron.
Some Scottish chroniclers, such as John of Fordun and Hector Boece from the thirteenth century, treat the Lia Fáil the same as the Stone of Scone in Scotland.[1] According to this account, the Lia Fáil left Tara in AD 500 when the High King of Ireland Murtagh MacEirc loaned it to his great-uncle, Fergus (later known as Fergus the Great) for the latter's coronation in Scotland. Fergus's sub-kingdom, 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."[3]
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.[4]
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.[5][6]
Mythical powers
editThe Lia Fáil was thought to be magical: when the rightful High King of Ireland put his feet on it, the stone was said to roar in joy.[1] The stone is also credited with the power to rejuvenate the king and also to endow him with a long reign. According to Lebor Gabála Érenn, 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[7] and according to legend, at the coronation of Brian Boru in 1002.
Inis Fáil
editFáil or Fàil is a word of various meanings, including "fatal", of the same etymology as English fate, used interchangeably with destiny.[8][9] The stone was originally called Fál, a word of obscure meaning;[10][11] 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".[12] 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.[13] 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".[14]
Vandalism
editSometime in June 2012, the stone was damaged by a hammer in 11 places.[15] It was vandalised again in May 2014 when green and red paint was poured on the stone covering at least 50% of its surface.[16][17]
The stone was vandalised again c. 6–7 February 2023 when the word "Fake" was spray painted on the stone.[18][19]
See also
edit- List of individual rocks
- Stone of Scone – Ancient Scottish coronation artefact
- Coronation Stone, Kingston upon Thames – Stone in Kingston, United Kingdom
- Stones of Mora – place where ancient Swedish kings were elected
- Prince's Stone – Ceremonial notion used in medieval Austria and Slovenia
- Sword in the stone (King Arthur) – Legendary sword of King Arthur
- Blarney Stone – Limestone Block in Blarney Castle
References
edit- ^ a b c d Patrick Weston Joyce (1911). The Lia Fáil or Coronation Stone of Tara. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
- ^ "The Lia Fail, or the Stone of Destiny - Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions]".
- ^ a b William Forbes Skene: The Coronation Stone. Edmonston & Douglas, 1869. p. 23
- ^ Book of Leister pp. 9–13.
- ^ "Ollam Fodhla and Company". United Church of God. 29 April 2011.
- ^ "Jeremiah, Ireland: CHAPTER VI. IRELAND (Tara)". www.originofnations.org.
- ^ "Lebor Gabala Erenn pt 4". www.maryjones.us.
- ^ Dwelly, Edward (1994). Faclair Gaidhlig Gu Beurla Le Dealbhan/Dwelly's Illustrated Gaelic to English Dictionary (12 ed.). Glasgow, Scotland: Gairm Publications. p. 404. ISBN 1871901286.
†fàil,** a. Fatal. 2 Generous, liberal. see Lia fàil.
- ^ O'Reilly, Edward (1864). AN IRISH-ENGLISH DICTIONARY, WITH COPIOUS QUOTATIONS FROM THE MOST ESTEEMED ANCIENT AND MODERN WRITERS, TO ELUCIDATE THE MEANING OF OBSCURE WORDS, AND NUMEROUS COMPARISONS OF IRISH WORDS WITH THOSE OF SIMILAR ORTHOGRAPHY, SENSE, OR SOUND IN THE WELSH AND HEBREW LANGUAGES (A NEW EDITION, CAREFULLY REVISED, AND CORRECTED. ed.). Dublin: James Duffy. p. 226.
fail, s. f. the hiccough; a rim or border round the edge of a pot, bucket, etc.; a ring, a wreath, a ring, a collar; company, society ; fate ; a place ; an inclosure, a fence ; a circle; adj. fatal; generous; s. f. a den, a resting place.
- ^ Dwelly, Edward (1994). Faclair Gaidhlig Gu Beurla Le Dealbhan/Dwelly's Illustrated Gaelic to English Dictionary (12 ed.). Glasgow, Scotland: Gairm Publications. p. 408. ISBN 1871901286.
fàl, -àil, s. m. Pen-fold for strayed cattle or sheep. 2 Circle. 3 Wall, hedge, dike. 4 Divot, sod. 5 Scythe. 6 Spade. 7*Bow. 8 Peat-spade. 9 *Bow,
†fàl, s. m. Noble. 2 King. 3 Plenty. 4 Malice. 5 Trifle. 6‡‡Guarding.
fàl, v. a. Scythe, mow. 2 Cut peats. 3 Enclose, hedge. 4**Cover with turfs.
fal,** a. Ominous. - ^ Guyonvarc’h, Christain J. (1964). "Notes d'étymologie et de lexicographie gauloises et celtiques (19): Irlandais lia fáil 'pierre de souveraineté'". Ogam: Tradition Celtique (in French). 16 (80): 436–440. ISSN 0030-0691.
- ^ "fál". eDIL: electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language. Royal Irish Academy.
- ^ Lord Longford; Thomas P. O'Neill (1970). Éamon de Valera. Dublin. chapter 21. ISBN 978-0-09-104660-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ 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.
- ^ Louise Hogan (14 June 2012). "Hammer vandals damage 5,500-year-old 'Stone of Destiny'". independent.ie. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "5,000-year-old standing stone vandalised in Meath". rte.ie. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ^ "Lia Fáil on Hill of Tara in County Meath vandalised". BBC News. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- ^ 'Mindless vandalism' at Hill of Tara condemned RTÉ News, 2023-02-08.
- ^ Vandalism of Hill of Tara standing stone a ‘desecration’ The Irish Times, 2023-02-07.
Further reading
edit- 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.
- FitzPatrick, Elizabeth. Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100–1600. Woodbridge, 2004.
- Bondarenko, Grigory. "Lia Fáil and other stones: symbols of power in Ireland and their origins".[1]
External links
edit- ^ Bondarenko, Grigory (2018). "Lia Fáil and other stones: Symbols of power in Ireland and their origins". Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie. 65 (1): 45. doi:10.1515/zcph-2018-650104. S2CID 165547494.