Uisneach and the Fire Hills of Tipperary

Following on from potential centres of Ireland. Here is the mythological centre of Ireland at the Catstone on Uisneach in Westmeath. You know your getting old when the last time you visited it was 15 years ago. For more info on this amazing site or to get a tour follow Uisneach or see here http://uisneach.ie/history/

It is the reputed burial site of the Tuatha De Danann god Lugh whose festival you could argue is being celebrated today as Reek Sunday. One of the Irish Earth Goddesses Eriu is also supposed to have been buried at Uisneach (under the Catstone). Similar to the Birr Stone - The Cat Stone is thought to be the 'Umbilicus Hiberniae’, ‘Axis Mundi’, or ‘the Naval of Ireland’.
The god Dagda is also thought to have resided here and is linked in mythology to two souterrains that were excavated in the 1920s by MacAllister.

It is probably best known as the location of a fire cult from where the Beltaine fire ushering in Summer was lit. Legend says that the first Beltaine fire was lit here and from here others on hill tops around Ireland were lit upon seeing the fire on Uisneach.

What link does Uisneach have to Tipperary? - I know two hills in Tipperary are supposed to have been part of the network of hills around Ireland - Tountinna and the Maherslieve. However to me it seems more likely that it was the more prominent Keeper Hill rather than the Maherslieve that was visible from Uisneach. Interestingly Tonn Tinne is supposed to translate as "Wave of Fire". However another translation is Tor Duine or Burial place of "Duine" or a person and it may refer to the nearby "Graves of the Leinstermen".

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I think it was author Michael Dames in the book Mythic Ireland that came up with the theory that there was a series of hills around Ireland that would light a secondary fire once the fire of the Hill of Uisneach was lit. Then he thought that these fires could be seen all the way to the coast and the various Beltaine fires were lit in response all around the country. It certainly is an idea that captures the imagination but I haven't come across any evidence that it actually happened. The picture above is of the Mauher Slieve Mt near Kilcommon in North Tipp which Dames picks out as one of the two Fire Hills in Tipperary (it was more likely Keeper Hill though if such a thing occurred).

The other prominent "Fire Hill" visible from Uisneach in Tipperary is Tonn Tinne. Now Tonn Tinne also has many other claims to fame other than this.
During the middle ages chroniclers, when recording the story of the origins of the Irish, are thought to have grafted a Biblical origin onto the story linking the first Irish people to Old Testament stories. The story goes that the first Irishman was Fintan mac Bochra who came with his 5 wives to Ireland before the Biblical Flood. One of Fintan's wives was Cessair the grand-daughter of Noah.
What has this got to do with Tonn Tinne near Portroe I hear you ask? Well after the flood, Fintan was the only survivor as he managed to hide in a cave on Tonn Tinne known as Fintans Grave.
Wikipedia says "He then turned into an eagle and then a hawk then back to human form. He lived for 5500 years after the Deluge, becoming an advisor to the kings of Ireland. In this capacity he gave advice to the Fir Bolg king Eochaid mac Eirc when the Tuatha Dé Danann invaded, and fought in the first Battle of Magh Tuiredh.
He survived into the time of Fionn mac Cumhail, becoming the repository of all knowledge of Ireland and all history along with a magical hawk who was born at the same time as him. They meet at the end of their lives and recount their stories to each other. They decide to leave the mortal realm together sometime in the 5th century, after Ireland was converted to Christianity."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fintan_mac_B%C3%B3chra
Now why the chroniclers picked Tonn Tinne as the location of Fintan's Grave is not known. However I would imagine they may have borrowed from some other story or myth linking a flood at this location.
On the slope of Tonn Tinne is of course the "Graves of the Leinstermen" which is recorded as a megalithic structure. I've written before that it may have been a Neolithic court-tomb.
http://thetipperaryantiquarian.blogspot.ie/…/graves-of-lein…
There is also a bronze age hillfort less than 500m away at Laghtea and of course the Capstone of the King of Leinster is another monument in the vicinity which is not fully understood.
http://thetipperaryantiquarian.blogspot.ie/…/the-capstone-o…
So it could be that the Graves of the Leinstermen are the remains of Fintan's Grave. Alternatively there could be another unknown monument waiting to be discovered under the peat on the summit or slopes of Tonn Tinne or even an actual Cave. However I did a brief check of the underlying geology of the area and it appears that it isn't conductive to the formation of Caves.
As we mentioned before the meaning of Tonn Tinne is either "Wave of Fire" or "Grave of a person". The 2nd could link it into the story of Fintan.

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