Background:
The Gobán Saor was a famous craftsman of Irish legend, being a rather more homely version of the smith god Giobhnú. He was as famous for his quick witted responses as he was for his great skill. He had no airs or graces about himself, always creating objects of beauty and craftsmanship, no matter how little the person was able to pay him for the work, but he hated any sign of meanness. Many of the stories of the Gobán are about outwitting people who try to cheat him out of a fair payment. As a craftsman he had such skill, finesse, deftness and accuracy that he could hammer a nail into a high beam by tossing both nail and hammer into the air. He could fashion a throwing spear while you counted to five, and shape a spearhead with three strokes of a hammer.

Stories of the Gobán:
While building a monastery for a group of monks the monks demanded that he lower his price. To force him to agree they removed the ladder from the tower he was working on, trapping him. The Gobán started to remove stones from the structure and toss them on the ground, jovially saying that it was as good a way to reach the ground as any. The monks swiftly returned the ladder, and paid him in full.

The Gobán and his son built a fort of a foreign king that was of such exquisite quality that the king grew jealous. He decided to kill them so that his fort would go unrivalled. One look at the king, and the Gobán sussed out his intention. He told the king that he could not complete the work without his “crooked and more crooked”, a tool he had left at home. Unwilling to let them go, the King sent his son to fetch it, not realising that the name of this implement was actually a coded message for Gobán’s wife. She held the king’s son, and ransomed him for her own husband and son.

On their way home they came across a group of carpenters who were desperately trying to figure out how to build a bridge without pegs, dowels or nails, as had been demanded by their king. “Sure let’s see if we can figure out a way to help” the Gobán said to them, and proceeded to build a sturdy bridge, cleverly using its own weight as a means of holding it together, so it became stronger the more weight was put on it. The carpenters were impressed, but grumbled a bit that he was more able than they at their own trade.

They stopped at a house where there lived two sisters. The Gobán advised them to keep the head of an old lady by the hob, to warm themselves with their work in the morning, and to take a sheepskin to the market and come home with the skin and its worth. One of them dug up a skull, then burnt her carded wool to keep herself warm, then made a fool of herself by asking for the price of the sheepskin without handing it over. The other sister fetched in an old, destitute lady to sit by her fire, wormed herself by her industriousness, and sold the wool from the sheepskin, while keeping the skin. The Gobán, impressed by her wit, asked her to marry his son.

Conclusion:
Helpful, jovial and always generous. The trait the Gobán finds hardest to forgive is meanness, and the trait he likes best is to see the same quickness of wit he has himself. This smartness gives him an air of brightness and an irrepressible twinkle in his eye.

Overview
The Fir Bolgs were named after what they did in much of their life. They were men (fir) who carried clay in bags (bolg). Enslaved by the Greeks their role was to m ake barren land fertile with the clay. In Ireland, starting from Uisneach they divided the country into five provinces. Possessed Ireland for thirty seven years before being defeated by the Tuatha De Danann in the first Battle of Moytura.

Stories of Fir Bolgs
The origins of the Fir Bolgs, it is said, was from the Nemedians and specifically Semeon, grandson of Nemed who fled to Greece.
As with Nemed in Ireland, the progeny of Semeon increased until they were numbered in the thousands. However, they were enslaved by the Greeks and given the task of carrying bags of clay on bare rocks to make the barren land fertile. It was from this task that they derived their name as ‘bag-men’.
Another story tells of the Greek King who gave them a territory full of poisonous snakes and that it was the Irish clay that they carried that gave them protection.
Either way the Fir Bolgs were a people who knew hardship and oppression.

Eventually, they escaped from Greece and settled in Ireland. Once here their leaders, from the Fir Bolgs, the Failion and the Fir Domhnainn leaders, starting from the exact centre of Ireland, Uisneach, divided Ireland into five provinces.
The word ‘cuige’ (a fifth) is still used for province though since medieval times there have only been five provinces. For some, the fifth province is an important province of the imagination, a province where all can meet. For the Fir Blogs it was an administrative centre. Each province had a King who ruled over smaller Kingships. One was Eochy who married Tailtiu, in whose honour the Tailteann games were held to the mid Twentieth century.

The Fir Bolgs, in Ireland, throw off their former servant role and for thirty seven years they prospered. In the plains and valleys of Ireland they cultivated fields and lived a prosperous life. Eventually, they were defeated by that set of descendents of Nemed that headed North with Beotham to become the Tuatha de Danann. The Tuatha defeated the Fir Bolgs in the first Battle of Moytura.

Conclusion
The Fir Bolgs were a people who knew a cycle of prosperity, defeat and exile and then repeat. They knew slavery and hardship. Essentially they are a highly practical, administratively and organizationally gifted people. They have after all left Ireland with its basic provincial structure.

Background:
Fergus MacRoich was the original king of Ulster, and later the patron of Conor MacNessa. The story has it that Fergus married the beautiful woman Neas, who was the mother of Conor, on condition that he allow Conor to rule the province for one year. When the year was up, the people claimed to prefer the rule of Conor, and so Fergus was sidelined to the role of patron of the king. He is supposed to have possessed great virility and strength.

Stories of Fergus MacRoich:
Deirdre and the son of Ushna had been exiled for a number of years when Fergus began to plead their case to Conor MacNessa. He won a promise out of the king that they would be allowed to return to Ulster under Fergus’ own protection, unharmed. He thus placed himself as guarantor for the safe keeping of the exiles. Naoise and his brothers were eager to return to their homeland, in spite of the suspicions of Deirdre. When they landed on the shores of Ireland they were met by a Knight of the Red Branch who invited Fergus to a feast in his fortress that night. Fergus tried to explain that he had a mission to conduct the Sons of Ushna safely to the court of Conor MacNessa, but he was under a geis, a sacred oath, never to refuse a feast given in his name. He was therefore obliged to remain behind, while Naoise and his companions travelled on. Fergus’ two sons took charge of them in his place, and when Conor sent armed men to arrest them, these sons drove them back. Conor then bribed one of the sons of Fergus to desert the sons of Ushna, while Conor’s own sons killed the other brother. Then Naoise and his brothers fought against the army of Ulster and were killed. Fergus returned to find that treachery had been practised, and that one of his own sons lay dead, while the other was a traitor. He then swore to be avenged on Conor MacNessa for thus abusing him, and he departed from Ulster to Connacht. He was then welcomed in to the court of Medbh and Ailill and even had an affair with Medbh. Together they plotted to bring destruction on Ulster in the course of the Cattle Raid at Cooley.

Conclusion:
Fergus Mac Roich was a good leader and advisor of men. His name and his word inspired trust, and he was fair in his dealing with all people. His honourable behaviour can be seen in the way in which he would not break a geis, although this unfortunately led to the loss of his own sons and the death of the sons of Ushna. His tragedy was that the less scrupulous Conor MacNessa tricked him on two separate occasions, and this eventually led to his loss of patience. He therefore deserted Ulster and vowed vengeance on it, feeling let down and betrayed by its king.