Who leads the warrior band known as the Fianna?

Who leads the warrior band known as the Fianna? Fionn mac Cumhaill does. Also called Finn MacCool, he is the legendary Irish hero and leader of the Fianna, a band of roving hunter-warriors in the Fenian Cycle.

The Fianna are portrayed as an elite military fellowship serving the High King of Ireland, defending the land, hunting, and living under their own strict code. They included members of rival groupings such as Clan Bascna and Clan Morna. Fionn’s father, Cumhall, was an earlier leader, but after Cumhall’s death, Goll mac Morna held leadership for a period before Fionn became the central figure.

Fionn is also remembered as a poet, seer, warrior, and master hunter. Stories say he gained extraordinary wisdom after accidentally tasting the Salmon of Knowledge, and that his thumb thereafter granted insight when he sucked it.

Oisín, one of Fionn’s sons, is a major Fianna poet and warrior but is not the band’s leader. Cú Chulainn belongs primarily to the Ulster Cycle, not the Fenian Cycle.