Fionn mac Cumhaill found Sadhbh as a deer on Ben Bulben, freed from enchantment by the boundaries of his hunting grounds, and took her as his wife — but the dark druid Fear Doirche lured her back into deer-shape, and she vanished, leaving Fionn mac Cumhaill their wild-born son Oisín.
Cumhall is Fionn mac Cumhaill's father. His death at the Battle of Cnucha left the infant Fionn mac Cumhaill an outcast, raised in hiding by two warrior women until he was old enough to reclaim leadership of the Fianna.
Fionn mac Cumhaill hunted Diarmuid Ua Duibhne and Gráinne across Ireland for years after Gráinne placed a geis on Diarmuid Ua Duibhne to elope from Fionn mac Cumhaill's wedding feast — a betrayal that consumed him with jealousy until he contrived Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's death on Ben Bulben.
Fionn mac Cumhaill and Goll mac Morna maintained an uneasy alliance within the Fianna, shadowed by the blood debt of Cumhall's death at Cnucha — rivals who fought side by side but never forgot the feud between their clans.
The young Fionn mac Cumhaill resisted Aillen mac Midgna's enchanted sleep-music by pressing the point of a poisoned spear against his own forehead, then slew the fire-breathing creature as it tried to burn Tara — the feat that won him leadership of the Fianna.
Fionn mac Cumhaill lured Diarmuid Ua Duibhne to hunt the enchanted boar of Ben Bulben, knowing the beast was fated to kill him — and when Diarmuid Ua Duibhne lay gored and dying, Fionn mac Cumhaill let the healing water slip through his fingers twice before the third handful came too late.
Fionn mac Cumhaill won leadership of the Fianna by slaying Aillen mac Midgna, the burner of Tara, and commanded the war-bands of Ireland from that day until the Battle of Gabhra shattered the order forever.
The Fianna roamed the forests and hills of Ireland under Fionn mac Cumhaill, with warriors like Oisín and Diarmuid Ua Duibhne among their ranks — each tested by impossible feats of skill and endurance before he could join.
The poet Finnegas had spent seven years waiting to catch the Bradan Feasa, but it was the boy Fionn who tasted it first — burning his thumb on the cooking fish and sucking it, all the world's wisdom flooded into him in that instant.
Gráinne spurned the aging Fionn mac Cumhaill at their wedding feast and placed a geis on Diarmuid to carry her away, igniting a pursuit across Ireland that would consume them all.
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