Salmon Knowledge of
First published 2024 by The O’Brien Press Ltd, 12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland
Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777
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The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.
A variation on this text appeared in Best-Loved Irish Legends, first published in 2009.
Copyright for text © Eithne Massey
Copyright for illustration © Ellen Kane
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.
Copyright for layout, editing and design © The O’Brien Press Ltd
Design by Emma Byrne.
ISBN: 978-1-78849-389-5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including for text and data mining, training artificial intelligence systems, photocopying, recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Published in
Salmon Knowledge
eithne massey
of
illustrated by ellen kane
Long ago in Ireland, there lived a boy called Fionn who wanted to know everything.
He asked his mother Muirne question after question after question.
Sometimes he asked her questions she could not answer.
Muirne decided to send Fionn to stay with two wise women, Bodhmall and Lia Luachra, who lived high in the mountains. They were able to answer Fionn’s questions about the sky and the stars and the sea and the forests. They taught him many things.
But one day, they too ran out of answers.
Bodhmall said, ‘I’ve had enough of these questions! Let’s send him to Finnegas.’
Lia Luachra nodded. Finnegas was the wisest man in Ireland.
So Fionn went to stay with Finnegas in a little house on the banks of the River Boyne.
But even Finnegas did not know everything. And even he got tired of being asked questions.
‘How can I know everything?’ asked Fionn. ‘Everything in the whole world?’
Finnegas smiled. There was a way, but he wasn’t going to tell Fionn. It was his secret.
Fionn did all the jobs around the house for Finnegas.
He didn’t like the cooking and cleaning, but he loved the hunting and fishing.