Scottish Island of Fraoch Eilean Legendary Place of the Death of a Celtic Hero

Fraoch Eilean is a small island at the northern end of Loch Awe (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Obha), a freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands (Scottish Gaelic: a’ Ghàidhealtachd). It is one of a number of islands within the loch. The island of Fraoch Eilean has a particular legend attached to it and has a name that links it with an ancient Celtic hero known as Fraoch or Fráech.

He appears in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. The Ulster Cycle (Irish: an Rúraíocht) is  one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology and is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas. It is thought the stories take place around or before the 1st century AD.

The tales are steeped in the pre-Christian religious beliefs of the time. Legends that form a significant feature in the Gaelic mythology of Ireland (Éire), Scotland (Alba) and Isle of Man (Mannin). Many different stories involving the heroes of these sagas have grown over the centuries. Some changing the events and locations featuring these heroes as the oral tradition took the stories from place to place. So it is that the warrior Fraoch (Fráech) is associated with places throughout Scotland and Ireland. One such place being Fraoch Eilean. It was at one time thought that Fraoch, which is also the Scottish Gaelic name for heather, was from where the island derived its name. However, it is now thought the legend of Fráech is more likely to be the source.

"The Death of Fráech" is a poem from The Book of the Dean of Lismore (Scottish Gaelic: Leabhar Deathan Lios Mòir). This is a famous Scottish manuscript, the principal part of which is in Gaelic and was compiled in the first half of the 16th century by James MacGregor (Seumas MacGriogair), Dean of Lismore Cathedral. In this tory Medb, Queen of Connacht, who has been described as fair haired and beautiful, is jealous of Fráech’s love for Findabair.  Findabair is said to be her daughter. Medb then sends Fráech to bring her the berries from a magical Rowan tree. The fruit of this tree has the power to prolong life and cure illness. The tree is on an island in the middle of a loch.

However, the tree itself was guarded by a dragon that lives within its roots. Fráech managed to get to the island and by stealth whilst the dragon slept  took some of the berries. When he brought them to Medb she was not satisfied and told him to return to the island and bring back a branch of the Rowan Tree. He went back to the island accompanied by Findabair, but when trying to achieve his task the dragon awoke. A battle ensues in which despite losing an arm Fráech uses a sword to behead the dragon. Fráech escapes but is seriously wounded and dies in Findabair's lap. She is devastated by his death and sings a lament before she dies of a broken heart. They are laid to rest together and a cairn is raised over them.

This is one version of the story of the death of Fráech. One that the storytellers of times gone by altered to fit their own location, in this case, Fraoch Eilean in Scotland. There are other earlier Irish stories of the death of Fráech. The Cattle-Raid of Fráech (Táin Bó Fraích) gives a much different version of events with Fráech surviving the encounter with the dragon. According to the Táin Bó Cuailnge, an epic from early Irish literature and central text in the Ulster Cycle, Fráech only later met his end at the hands of Cú Chulainn. He was another great warrior in Irish mythology.