Legend of Oonagh
Pronunciation: Oo-nah
Meaning: Oonagh derives from the Old Irish word úan, which means 'lamb'. The perfect title for a sweet and gentle soul.
Legend:
Oonagh was a favourite wife of Irish hero and giant Finn MacCool.
In Finn's dispute with Scottish giant Angus Benandonner (the Red Man), Finn had built the Giant's Causeway, stretching from the North Irish coast to Scotland, in order to fight and defeat the Scottish giant.
Upon reaching his destination, however, McCool was horrified to find that Benandonner was massive, much bigger than himself. McCool ran back across his pathway to Ireland, chased by Benandonner.
Finn reached his home before the Red Man and searched desperately for a way to defeat his Scottish enemy. As he searched, he could hear the loud, pounding footsteps of Benandonner getting closer and closer.
Seriously doubting his ability to defeat Benandonner in a fight, Finn turned to his wife, Oonagh, who had a plan to save them. Oonagh grabbed a sheet and wrapped her husband up like a baby. She instructed him to sit in a cot and wait for the Red Man’s arrival. She did not have to wait long as, soon, she was welcoming Benandonner at her door. Oonagh apologised to the giant, explaining that her husband, Finn, was not in as he had gone deer hunting.
Oonagh then lead Benandonner on a tour of their home, drawing attention to the weapons she had left lying out. She explained that these weapons belonged to her husband but in reality, they would have been much too large and heavy for McCool to carry.
After the tour, Oonagh sat Benandonner down and told him that she would make him Finn’s favourite meal while he waits for her husband to return. This was all a ploy however, as Oonagh baked a cake of griddle bread with the iron griddle inside it. Inevitably, upon biting into the cake, the Red Man broke five of his teeth.
Oonagh remained calm and simply asked if he would like to see her baby. Benandonner agreed, and was shocked to see Oonagh and Finn’s enormous ‘baby’ (Finn wrapped up in a sheet). Benandonner assumed that if McCool’s baby was that large, Finn himself must be massive. Scared that McCool would return, and he would have to fight this towering giant, Benandonner fled back across to Scotland, destroying the Causeway as he went.
As the Red Man fled back to his homeland, Fin McCool is believed to have taken a chunk of the Antrim earth and thrown it after him, as a warning to never return to Ireland again. However, he missed and, to this day, the chunk of earth remains in between the two countries as the Isle of Man. The area that McCool plucked from the earth filled up with water and formed what we now know as Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland.
Source: Twinkl
