
A storytelling and folklore podcast.
Telling some of the famous and not so famous British and Irish myths, legends and folktales, in no particular order.
Coming direct from South Yorkshire it is currently regularish, and will feature all of the above and whatever other miscellaneous snippets take my fancy.
Presented by Graeme. Website at http://www.TalesofBritainandIreland.com
A tale of Fionn and the Fianna featuring heroism (maybe), murder (definitely), theft, even more animal transformations and other laddish pursuits. Stick around for the post credit sequence!
For musical credits, sources and more visit the website: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-43-fionn-pt-5-the-lad-of-the-skins/
#myth #mythology #folklore #Feniancycle #IrishMythology #FionnMacCumhaill

“The Lad of the Skins will destroy ourselves and the whole of the Fianna!”
A tale of Fionn and the Fianna featuring heroism (maybe), murder (definitely), theft, even more animal transformations (it wouldn’t be a Fenian tale without some animal transformations) and other laddish pursuits. Stick around for the post credit sequence!
This is the story of the Lad of the Skins – otherwise known as the CĂ©atach/Ceudach tale. Possibly the most popular folk tale of the Fianna.
Even if you’ve not listened to the rest of the Fenian cycle episodes this is a great one to jump in at as it’s fairly stand alone – though you can also find links to the other Fenian tales below.

Incredibly in 2014 the statue was removed from the site – a cross was left with the words “You shall have no other gods before me” written on it. The old gods are still contentious for some!
The Cauldron of Plenty
So in the episode I mention the Cauldron of Plenty when I haven’t told the stories of The Dagda yet – and I’m afraid that’s how it’s going to remain (sorry! I’ll get round to it in a decade or so).
But it’s some kind of law that when you mention that Cauldron you have to show a picture of the actual Gundestrup cauldron – as below. This exceptional Iron Age Cauldron is actually from Denmark but is so striking in its pagan imagery and its state of preservation, due to being in a bog for a couple of thousand years, that it has become the exemplar par excellence of magical Iron Age cauldrons.
Its exact origins are unknown but many believe it shows specific scenes from Celtic, and specifically Irish, mythology. It certainly seems to involve a lot of animal/human hybrids, which as you will probably have noticed is rife in the Fenian tales, as well as other Irish stories (though of course also in a lot of other myths of the time, not least those of Greece and Rome).
It’s certainly a fantastic piece of work anyway – and if you want to imagine the Cauldron of Plenty I reckon you could do far worse than use this as your basis.

More from the Fenian cycle….
Episode 17: Fionn MacCumhaill Part 4 – OisĂn
This episode we continue working our way through the origin phase of the Fenian cycle. There’s an evil SĂdhe, animal transformations, and blatant overuse of Irish…
Episode 16: Fionn MacCumhaill Part 3 – Bran
The origin story of two of the most important characters in The Fenian cycle: Fionn’s dogs.
We’ll learn about the dangers of an angry ex, the…
Episode 4: The Boyhood of Fionn Part 2
This episode continues the podcast’s look into the beginnings of the Fenian cycle. There’s a grisly plot item, a definitive answer to the question of whether…
Episode 3: The Boyhood of Fionn Part 1
The beginnings of the Fenian cycle: in an untamed Ireland, threatened by the SĂdhe, a boy named Demne is born into danger.
Featured Folklorist: Lady Augusta Gregory
Lady Augusta Gregory
“The Nationalist playwright” – Lady Gregory and the translations of the Ulster and Fenian Cycle
Selected Sources
- The Ceudach Tale in Scotland and Cape Breton – Natasha Sumner
- Gaelic Folk-Tales and Mediæval Romances: A Study of the Early Modern Irish ‘Romantic Tales’ and Their Oral Derivatives – Alan Bruford
- BĂ²can website version – A multilingual English/Gaelic website with lots of interesting stories, they have a number of versions of the tale in English and some only in Gaelic (which I alas have not been able to read). Generally a very interesting site.
Versions of the tale I read (not all mixed into the final story): - Gods and Fighting men – Lady Augusta Gregory at Sacredtexts.org
- GILLA NA GRAKIN AND FIN MACCUMHAIL in Myths and Folks Tales of Ireland – Jeremiah Curtin
- KING MANANAUN in West Irish Folk Tales and Romances by William Larmine
- Ceatach and Blackbird in Children of the Salmon by Eileen O’FaolĂ¡in (Have to buy this one)
- CĂ©atach in Folktales of Ireland by Sean O’Sullivan, (available to borrow from Internet Archive) – this is one of those ones that’s really quite wildly different and didn’t make it in. It would take me about 5 episodes to tell with my usual style
- The lad with the skin coverings in Waifs and strays of Celtic tradition, Vol 4 collected by John Gregerson Campbell
- The lad in the skin coverings in Waifs and strays of Celtic tradition, Vol 3 by the Rev. James MacDougall
- The Lad in the Skin Coverings – from the BĂ²can website, referenced as contributor: Essaidh StiĂ¹bhart
Musical credits for Episode 43: The Lad of the Skins
Intro and outro theme from the incredibly talented Alice Nicholls Music
Outro music by Josh Keely and Mitch Newman
Other music, used under various Creative Commons licenses:
Damiano Baldoni
Celtic Warrior
Aaron Kenny
Saving the World
Brian Bolger
Black Mass
Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)
Welcome to Horrorland
Lionel Schmitt
Protector of the Ocean
The Beast
Castle of Darkness
Ben Von Wildenhaus
Week Thirty Two
SlĂ¡inte
Lark in the morning. The Atholl Highlanders
Sally Gardens
Banish
Jimnea Contreas
Goddess of the sea
Woodspider
Hot October
Doctor Turtle
Rotisserie Graveyard
Sound effects
inspectorJ:
Boiling Water large A
Destruction, Wooden, A
Various other Public Domain sounds/music used without attribution