Fintan

Fintan is an Irish given name. In Irish mythology, Fintan mac Bóchra is said to be the sole survivor of the Great Flood on the island of Ireland, subsequently becoming a personification of old age and knowledge. As a shapeshifter, he appears to be identical to the Salmon of Wisdom and the name may thus have deeper roots in Celtic mythology. The mythical figure is probably the source for the use of the name in medieval and modern times.

Notable persons and characters with this name include:

• mythological
  • Fintan mac Bóchra, figure in Irish mythology
• Ireland and Scotland, medieval
  • Fintan of Clonenagh, 6th- and 7th-century Irish saint
  • Saint Fintan Munnu, 7th-century Irish saint, a disciple of Saint Columba
  • Findanus, 9th- and 10th-century chief on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
  • Fintan of Rheinau (Findan, Findanus), 9th c. catholic saint and hermit, born in Leinster, active in Rheinau, Switzerland
• Ireland, modern
  • James Fintan Lalor, (1807–1849) an Irish revolutionary
  • Fintan O'Toole (born 1958), Irish columnist, writer, literary editor and drama critic
  • Fintan Kilbride (1927–2006), Irish priest
  • Fintan McAllister, Irish cricketer
  • Fintan Connolly, Irish film-maker
  • Fintan Coogan Snr (1910–1985), Irish Fine Gael politician
  • Fintan Coogan Jnr, Irish Fine Gael politician
  • Fintan Cullen, Irish writer and academic
  • Fintan Walsh, Irish Gaelic football player
  • Fintan Warfield, Irish Sinn Féin politician
• Great Britain, modern
  • Fintan Ryan, British scriptwriter
• Switzerland
  • Fintan of Rheinau (Findan, Findanus), 9th c. catholic saint and hermit, born in Leinster, active in Rheinau, Switzerland
  • Fintan Birchler, 18th c. priest in Rheinau, Switzerland, author of a vita of Fintan of Rheinau
  • Fintan Mundwiler, 19th-century Swiss Benedictine

Fictional characters

• Fintan Pyren, an unstable villainous murderer in the book series Keeper of The Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger