Etymology of Fianna: derives from 'wēd-nā', related to OIr. fíad 'wild, game, wood', OEng. wāð 'hunt' and OBret. guoid 'wild'. The ancient roving band of warriors functioned as sovereigns of pre-agrarian Celtic society, thus the connection to forests & the hunt.

The Instructions of King Cormac states: "everyone is a fían(na) until he becomes a property owner" - This points to a rite of passage in medieval Ireland where a young man crossed from one community to another, from a member of a fighting band, to a settled farmer.

Cernunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron (Jutland, 150 BC).

Seated between a deer and a wolf this horned figure is thought to be a totem god of the Celtic war-bands. The Stag god, as lord of wild animals, provided the royal hunter with prey and guaranteed his authority.

The Yew tree in the cloisters of Muckross Abbey near Killarney.

Thought to be Ireland's oldest tree at 670 years old.

The intellectual caste always carried a long staff, much like Merlin the wizard, going back to Sumeria. A medieval Irish priest carried a staff, bell and holy book. The cane showed the power entrusted to him to guide the flock. The bell was used to call prayers & curse evildoers.

To add - I don't doubt that these staffs were used as weapons by priests etc. But the staff was meant to show him as a type of sovereign, akin to the rod of kingship or Zeus' scepter of Argos. The sage used his staff (knowledge) to beat alien spirits/idols away from his people.

The Irish poet was almost certainly a descendant class of the druid (filidh); both used a poetic style of rhymed verses to retain knowledge.

The famous Hedge schools of 18th century Ireland came about when the class of poets turned to teaching in order to maintain the tradition.

A mural to the Hedge school-masters in Ardoyne, Belfast.

They educated the rural poor, teaching language, math, & even astronomy.

Teachers in Ireland were once known as 'poor scholars' & seen as responsible for passing on wisdom that stretched back to Gaelic antiquity.

"Homer's Iliad, Paradise Lost, the Old Testament, Ovid.. these books were in every peasant's cottage"

Education in Ireland circa 19-20th C.

By the 16th c. Hiberno-Latin was a second colloquial language among the Irish.

Visitors to Aran were astonished by 'Latin-speaking rustics'

Gráinne Ní Máille, sea queen of Connacht, meets queen Elizabeth I, 1593.

Their entire conversation was conducted in Latin.

Michaelmas marked the start of the term for an Irish bard. Until 25 March he would learn history, rhetoric & above all the Irish language. In order to pass, the student would sit in a dark room (for 24 hours) & compose his work. Reciting from memory, he was critiqued & ranked!

“The Celts thought of their gods as giants, and portrayed them as such. On grassy hillsides around Britain, huge figures, principally of horses and men, can still be seen cut into the chalk. These representations are largely thought to be pre-Roman in origin”

The Early Irish Christians, like the ancient Celts, also saw God as a giant.

Here on the Kells market cross, God is depicted as a gigantic warrior; Spear in hand, he leads the guardian deities of the Twelve tribes to battle.