Steve Dunford’s legacy takes root

County View
John Healy

It is no less than fitting that the first Tree of Liberty was planted at Templemary School near Killala last month in memory of the late, acclaimed Steve Dunford. The tree, planted by the French Ambassador, is the first of 225 such trees to commemorate General Humbert’s invasion of 1798, part of the first milestone in the Ballina 2023 celebrations.
Few could claim to have done as much as Stephen Dunford, both by word and deed, in revitalising the story of Humbert’s ill-fated invasion of Ireland. His lauded ‘In Humbert’s Footsteps’ will always remain the definitive account of that brave but futile strike against British rule. His stirring reenactments brought colour and vivacity to a story that was in danger of being consigned to the side waters of history.
In between, Steve had written extensively of his native place. His final book, ‘A Sense of Killala’, published after his untimely death and dedicated to the late SeΡn Hannick, was another labour of love from his prolific pen.
It is somewhat regrettable then that, with all the emphasis on his Humbert research, one of his most scholarly works finds itself confined to a lesser place in the Dunford literary canon. His book ‘TΡin Bó Flidhais – The Mayo Tain’ was a typically detailed account of an Irish epic, which has its origins in pre-Christian mythology and ranks among the great works of the legendary Ulster cycle of early Irish literature.
‘The Mayo Tain’ tells the tale of the brutal cattle raid into Mayo by the armies of Queen Meadhbh of Connacht, her husband Ailill, and their Ulster ally, Fergus. They were in pursuit of the magical white cow owned by Flidhais, the beautiful princess of Mayo’s Gamhanraidh tribe, and the book records the story of blood letting, treachery and betrayal that led to the final outcome.
The Gamhanraidh were an influential and prosperous tribe whose territory stretched from north Mayo as far as present day County Clare. The tribe was ruled by Flidhais and her royal husband, Oilill Fionn, who lived at Glencastle and guarded the gates to the Mullet peninsula. Their two forts were at Rathmorgan, near Carrowmore lake, and at Nephin, and their enormous herds of cattle and deer included the legendary white cow, the Maol, which was reputed to produce in one day sufficient milk to satisfy the needs of 300 men.
The avaricious Meadhbh, her husband Ailill, and the Ulster hero, Fergus, driven by lust for the beautiful Flidhais, left the royal rath of Cruachan in Roscommon to lay waste to the territory of the Gamhanraidh. Thousands were slain in the ensuing battles, but, in the end, the invaders prevailed. The white cow was captured, Fergus killed Oilill and claimed the princess and the victors returned to Cruachan, having survived many skirmishes en route.
Legend says that the defeated Oilill had made his way to Inver, where the local chieftain Ciorthain had promised to provide a ship to take him to safety. Ciorthain however went back on his promise and betook his ship out into Broadhaven Bay, leaving Oilill stranded on the shore. In anger, Oilill placed a huge rock in his slingshot, aimed it at the ship, and sent it to the bottom of the ocean at a point still known as TrΡ Ciorthain.
A further local telling of the epic is that Fergus and Flidhais (also known as Munhin) lived together in Erris. However, he began to doubt her fidelity, and one day, as they crossed a flooded tributary of the Owenmore on horseback, he cast her into the water where she drowned. The river has since been called the Munhin River.