User:Jnestorius/Fianna Fáil (phrase)

Fianna Fáil is an Irish language phrase variously translated "soldiers of destiny", "army of Ireland", and others. It occurs occasionally in Irish poetry and was adopted as a slogan by Irish nationalists. It is best know as the name of the Fianna Fáil political party founded in 1926, which was the largest in the Irish state for the rest of the twentieth century. The phrase also occurs in the opening line of the usual text of Amhrán na bhFiann, the Irish national anthem. The initials FF appear on the badge (e.g. as a cap badge) of the Irish Defence Forces

Fianna
In Irish, the word fian or fiann means a band of warriors. In the plural, with definite article, na Fianna, "the Fianna", was the name in the Fenian Cycle of poems for a mythical army of pre-Christian Ireland. The anglicisation Fenian was adopted by nineteenth-century Physical force Irish republicans.

Poetry referred to the Fianna as:
 * "Fianna Finn" — the Fianna of Fionn mac Cumhaill
 * "Fianna Éireann" — the Fianna of Ireland
 * "Fianna Fódla" — the Fianna of Fódla, a poetic name for Ireland
 * "Fianna Banbha" — the Fianna of Banbha, a poetic name for Ireland

The poem "The Battle of Gabhra" refers to "Fianna Breatan", "Fianna Almhuin", etc; Nicholas O'Kearney's 1853 edition translates these as "Fians" [of Britain, Allen, etc.]; and "F(h)iannaibh F(h)áil" variously as "the Fians of Fail"; or "the Fenians of Fail".

Fáil
Fál (or Lia Fáil, "stone of Fál") was the name of a stone at the Hill of Tara associated with the coronation of the legendary High Kings of Ireland. Poetically, in the genitive case Fáil, the word is used metonymically in compound nouns to mean "[of] Ireland". The most common instance is Inis Fáil "island of Fál", anglicised Innisfail, a poetic name for Ireland. Another is the High King Nuadu Finn Fáil "Nuadu the Fair of Fál". The medieval female name Bé Fáil means "woman of Ireland", while Derbail perhaps comes from "daughter of Ireland". Fál is said by Saint Fiacc to be one of the five names of Ireland, the others being Éire, Banba, Fódla, and Elga. Kuno Meyer said Falmag "plain of Fál" was another poetic name for Ireland; Chadwick disputes this.

Fál is a fossil word whose etymology is obscure. Middle Irish and Early Modern Irish texts give various spurious meanings. The Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann were supposed to have been brought from four cities in "the northern islands of the world", with the Fál coming from one named Falias. A later account derives Fál from fo-ail "under-stone", from the stone's supposed position under the High King. The Welsh legendary name Gwawl is cognate. John Rhŷs in 1886 says "In the name of the Lia Fáil, sometimes called the Stone of Destiny, the word Fál is probably to be treated as in the case of Inis Fáil 'the Island of Fál,' where I take the word to have meant light, and to have referred to the god [the 'Celtic Zeus'] in his early identification with the sun."

The Stone of Scone or "Stone of Destiny" used at the coronation of the Kings of Scotland was said to have come from Ireland, and the Lia Fáil was sometimes considered analogous to, or even identified with, the Scottish stone. Authorities since George Petrie have refuted this association, through which Lia Fáil was sometimes translated "stone of destiny", and by extension "Fá[i]l" was interpreted as meaning "[of] destiny".

T. O. Russell
Thomas O'Neill Russell: "One of the most interesting things connected with Tara is the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny. It was upon it the over-kings of Ireland had been inaugurated from far-back antiquity. It is said to have been brought by Fergus, brother of the then reigning chief King, to Scotland, in order that he might be crowned king on it over the part of Scotland he had conquered. It remained under the coronation chair of the Kings of Scotland down to the time of Edward the First, who seized it and brought it to Westminster, where it is now, and the sovereigns of England have been crowned on it ever since his time. Petrie maintains that the Lia Fail is still in Tara, and that[Pg 24] the pillar stone that stands over the graves of the men who fell in ’98 is it. He adduces very strong evidence from manuscripts of high authority and of great antiquity to prove what he says. There is, on the other hand, strong testimony to prove that it was brought to Scotland by Fergus. The question will probably never be finally settled. The principal virtue supposed to be possessed by the Lia Fail was that it would bring political power to the country in which it was, particularly if its people were of Celtic stock. It is very remarkable that soon after the stone supposed to be the Lia Fail was taken out of Ireland, her political power began to decline, her over-kings lost a great part of their former authority, and in the long run she lost her independence. Scotland’s political power and national independence vanished not long after she had lost the Lia Fail, and in a few centuries after England had got it she became one of the foremost nations in the world. The English claim to be Saxons, but it is now generally admitted that the Celtic element preponderates in the island of Great Britain, so that the prophecy attached to the Lia Fail seems to be fulfilled.

The Lia Fail is certainly the most extraordinary stone in Europe, if not in the world. The famous[Pg 25] Rosetta stone, covered as it is with archaic writing, and verifying, as many suppose, the truth of Old Testament history, is hardly more interesting than the rude granite slab that lies under the coronation chair in Westminster, unmarked with a single letter. It is about 25 inches in length, about 15 in breadth, and 9 in depth. How such a rude, unshapely flag-stone could have such a history, and have been an object of veneration and interest for so many centuries, is what strikes with wonder those who see it. But if it is not the real Lia Fail, if it is a sham, and if the stone still standing in Tara is the genuine one, the wonder increases; for the fact of a spurious article having become invested with such fame and regarded with such veneration is the greatest wonder of all.

Doctor Petrie says, in his “Antiquities of Tara Hill,” that “it is in the highest degree improbable that to gratify the desire of a colony the Irish would have voluntarily parted with a monument so venerable for its antiquity and considered essential to the legitimate succession of their own kings.” He quotes verses from a tenth century poet, Kenith O’Hartigan, who says that the Lia Fail is

“This stone on which are my two heels”;

and he quotes from an ancient tract called the[Pg 26] Dinseanchus, another proof that when it was composed, and that time could not have been later than the tenth century, the Lia Fail was in Tara. It often happens, however, that Irish annalists and historians, so fond were they of looking backward to the past, make things appear as they had been, and not as they were when they wrote. The over-kings of Ireland were called Kings of Tara five hundred years after Tara had been abandoned, and when it was as waste and desolate as it is to-day. O’Dugan, in his topographical poem, written in the fourteenth century, tells of clans inhabiting the English Pale, when they had been banished westward by the invaders nearly two hundred years before he wrote. He prefaces his topographical poem by saying

“O’Maolseachlinn, chief King of Tara and Erin,”

but the last O’Maolseachlinn that was nominally chief King of Ireland and Tara had died three hundred years before O’Dugan wrote! Why those old Gaelic poets were so fond of describing things as they had been, and not as they were when they wrote, is hard to understand. They may have got their information from documents that were centuries old when they copied them. It seems a[Pg 27] certainty that the men whose writings Petrie quotes to prove that the Lia Fail was in Tara in the tenth century, did what O’Dugan did in his topographical poem—that is, speak of things as they had been hundreds of years before. He never mentions the English at all. This partially accounts for Irish writers of the tenth century speaking of the Lia Fail being then in Tara. They intended to describe where it used to be, but not where it was. When Petrie says that the Lia Fail is spoken of by all ancient Irish writers in such a manner as to leave no doubt that it remained in its original situation at the time when they wrote, he makes a great mistake. Here is a quotation from the “Book of Leinster,” a manuscript of the highest authority, compiled in the early part of the twelfth century, and mostly from writings of a much earlier date:—“It was the Tuatha De Danaans who brought with them the great Fal, that is, the stone of knowledge that was in Tara; from which [the name of] Magh Fail is on Ireland. He under whom it would roar was then [rightful] King of Ireland.”[2]

There is another very strong proof brought to[Pg 28] light by the publication of “Silva Gadelica,” by Mr Standish Hays O’Grady, that the Lia Fail was removed from Tara. In the tract called the “Colloquy,” one of the speakers says: “This, then, and the Lia Fail, or stone of destiny, that was there (in Tara) were the two wonders of Tara. When Ireland’s monarch stepped on it, it would cry out under him,” ... “And who was it that lifted that flag, or that carried it away out of Ireland?” asked one of the listeners. “It was a young hero of great spirit that ruled over” ... Here, unfortunately, the tract ends abruptly. The “Colloquy,” or “Agallamh na Seanorach,” is a tract of respectable antiquity. Its language seems to be that of the fifteenth or perhaps the fourteenth century, but the version that has come down to us may be, and probably is, but a transcript of a much more ancient tract, the language of which was modernised.

If Doctor Petrie had known of the existence of those two proofs given of the Lia Fail having been removed from Tara, he never would have said that all ancient Irish writers spoke of it in such a way as to leave no doubt of its being there still. O’Reilly, author of Irish dictionary, says: “Lia Fail, the stone of destiny, on which the ancient Irish monarchs used to be crowned until the time of Mortogh Mac[Pg 29] Earc, who sent it into Scotland that his brother Fergus, who had subdued that country, might be crowned on it. It is now in Westminster Abbey.” O’Reilly was the most learned Irish scholar and historian of his day, and was a painstaking, conscientious man, who would hardly state any thing for which he did not have good authority. It must, however, be admitted that up to the present no positive statement seems to have been found in ancient Irish writings as to when and by whom the Lia Fail was brought from Tara to Scotland; neither does it seem to be known where O’Reilly got his information about it.

When Petrie spoke of the improbability of the Irish allowing such a venerated monument as the Lia Fail to be taken out of Ireland, he should have remembered that at the time when it is said to have been taken, in the beginning of the sixth century, Christianity had become established in Ireland. Paganism or Druidism may have survived among a few, but it had got its death-blow. Pagan monuments of every kind had begun to be disregarded. The Lia Fail was essentially a Pagan monument, and consequently an abhorrence to Christians. The fathers, or at least the grandfathers, of the men who allowed Fergus to take[Pg 30] it to Scotland, would probably have shed the last drop of their blood to keep it in Ireland. The disrepute into which everything connected with Paganism had fallen after the introduction of Christianity is plainly set forth in the “Book of Leinster” in the very page from which the Gaelic extract about the Lia Fail has been given:—“It happened that Christ was born not long after; it was that which broke the power of the idols.”[3] The Lia Fail was an idol that had lost its power and prestige, so that the people would not be likely to have any objection to its being removed to Scotland or anywhere else.

But there are still other even stronger objections for accepting Petrie’s theory that the Lia Fail is still in Tara. The pillar stone that is there is not a lia, and never would have been called such by the ancient Irish. Lia means a stone of any kind in its general sense; but the pillar stone in Tara would not be called a lia, but a coirthe. Lia is always applied to a flag-stone, both in ancient and modern Gaelic. The stone under the coronation chair in Westminster is a real lia or flag-stone; the one in Tara is a coirthe, or pillar stone, for, judging from its height above the ground, it[Pg 31] cannot be much less than eight feet in length; it is very nearly round, and was evidently fashioned into its present shape by man. If the stone in Tara is the real Lia Fail, how did it come to lose its original name and be know even still by an Irish name that connects it with Fergus, the person by whom the real Lia Fail is popularly believed to have been brought to Scotland? This loss of an original name, and its substitution by a new one, could hardly have occurred in the case of such a famous monument as the Lia Fail. If the superstitious reverence with which it had been regarded before the introduction of Christianity had vanished, its original name would have remained. There are many place names in Ireland that have not changed during twenty centuries, and it is almost impossible to conceive how the name of the most venerated monument in all Ireland could have changed had the monument itself remained in the country. Another strong objection against the pillar stone in Tara being the real Lia Fail is its shape. The real Lia Fail was intended to be stood upon by the chief king at his inauguration; but the most flat-footed monarch that ever ruled Ireland would have considerable difficulty in standing steadily on the coirthe in Tara, even if it were prostrate,[Pg 32] for it is round and not flat. Standing steadily on it would be nearly as difficult a performance as “rolling off a log” would be an easy one.

Taking everything into consideration, there seem to be very strong reasons to believe that the Lia Fail was taken from Tara to Scotland at the time it is popularly believed to have been taken—namely, about the year 503 of the Christian era; that it was taken in order to have Fergus Mac Earc inaugurated on it as king over that part of Scotland which he had brought under his domination; that it was taken from Scone to Westminster by Edward the First in the year 1296, and that it is now under the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey. It seems strange how a man of Doctor Petrie’s archæological knowledge could have been led to believe that the pillar stone still in Tara, for whatever use it may have been originally intended, was the real Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny.

It would be most instructive and interesting if a scientific examination was made of the stone under the coronation chair. If it was proved to be a meteoric stone, its fame and the reverence with which it was so long regarded could be easily understood. If an ancient tribe saw a stone falling from heaven among them, they would[Pg 33] regard such a thing as a miracle, and think that the stone was sent to them for some special purpose. They would, if possible, take it with them wherever they went. If the Lia Fail was proved to be a meteoric stone, the esteem and honour in which it was so long held, and the power which it was believed to possess, would be easily accounted for."

Macalister 1916
Macalister in 1916 writes:
 * The stone variously called Fal, or Lia Fail, was the central " fetish " of Temair, and it becomes a matter of great importance to find out what it was. So important was it, that Inls Fall, Mag Fail, are familiar names for the whole of Ireland. Temair itself was Temair Fail, Fal' a Prospect-hill, to distinguish it from the other places called Temair in Ireland. The personal name Fraech Fail is also recorded. The followers of Find mac Umaill are the " Fiana of Fal."


 * Whatever the camp-followers of Celtic studies may suppose (be they mediaeval chroniclers or modern ecstatics of the Fiona MacLeod type, we may take it for granted that the signification of Lia Fail is nothing so poetical as " Stone of Destiny." " Stone of the Fence," or " of the Hedge," would serve as a translation, with a possible reference to its use as a guardian of the Htness of the king. In such a case, however, we should have expected the definite article. The fact that it is omitted, and that the stone is frequently spoken of simply as " Fal " which, indeed, appears to be its most legitimate name indicates that Fal is to be taken preferably as a proper name, either of a man or of a god. As there dues not appear to be any trace of a man of the name, we prefer to interpret it as the name of a god. [...]


 * Just as M6el, Blocc, and Kluicne were the receptacles of personalities of the three druids buried underneath them, and acted under the inspiration of their superhuman intelligences, so Fal was the receptacle of the divinity whose name it bore. [...]


 * Another point of importance to notice about Fal is a constant tradition that it was not native to Teniair ; coupled with an expectation that it was not destined to remain there for ever. As to the place from whicli it came, authorities differ; but they agree in representing that it came from elsewhere.


 * Thus, Lebor Gabala enumerates it among the four treasures brought into Ireland by the Tuatha De Danann. It came, so we are told, from the city Falias ; while Lug's invincible spear was brought from Gorias, Nnadu's sword from Finnias, and The Dagda's inexhaustible cauldron from Murias. Thus the stone is brought into association with three of the most important deities in the pantheon. The names of the cities are obviously factitious, formed by someone who had deciphered a name like Ilrcis on an Ogham inscription, and recognized the common name Ere, but was not very clear as to the meaning of the archaic genitive termination ias. Falias is thus formed from the name of Fal ; and the apparent meaning of Fal (" \vall ") has suggested Mvir, and thus given a foundation on which to base the city Murias. Some vague recollection of a legendary king Nuadu Finn- fail has suggested Finnias, whence Nuadu obtained his sword ; and Gorias if/or = fire) is a suitable place for the .sun-god Lug to find his destroying spear. Thus Fal lies at the base of three out of the four cities in whicli the Tuatha De Dauann learnt their magic.


 * Haile an Scdil, the tale to whicli reference has already been made, tells a different story. According to this interesting text, the druids Moel, Blocc, and Bluicne explained to Conn Cet-chathach that the stone came from Inis Fo-ail, was set in Teniair Tire Fail, and WHS destined hereafter to find its way to Tailltiu.


 * Inis Fo-ail is merely a perversion of Inis Kail, in the interests of an absurd etymology (fo ail, "under a king"). Thus, what the druids said was that the stone came to Teniair from Inis Fail. This implies that Inis Fail is not Ireland, but some other island. When we seek for .mother island bearing this name, we have not far to look. The little islet in Wexford Harbour, now called Beggery Island >a corruption of Beg-Eire, Little Ireland), also bears the name of Inis Fail.


 * Beg-Eire is the site of a very ancient ecclesiastical establishment, associated with the name of Ibar, traditionally said to have been one of the pre-Patrician saints of Ireland. Xow it may be laid down as at least a working' hypothesis, that the existence of an ancient Celtic monastery on such an island is presumptive evidence of the pre-existence of a pagan sanctuary on the same spot ; the missionaries and early fathers of the church in Ireland being desirous of diverting the sanctity of the island from the false to the true Faith. This is certainly the case of Inis Muiredaig in Sligo Bay; the church there, called Team/itt/l na Teineadk, with its sacred tire-hearth (site of " one of the three sacred perennial fires of Ireland "), 1 preserves the memory of some fire-ceremony that assuredly was not Christian. It seems also to he the case at Inis Cealtra, where, as I have shown in my account of the site, there is very complete evidence for the former existence of a sacred tree. And the name of Inis Fail affixed to the island of St. Ibarcan only mean that this island was a centre of rites similar to those which centred in the stone of Fdl ; at least, that in some way or other the god immanent in the stone of Fal was there honoured.

Onomasticum Goidelicum
at Tara; ¶ the (Lia) Fail, a taebh Dhuma na nGiall a tuaidh, a Temraigh .i. an Cloch no ghésedh fó chossaibh gach righ no gabadh Erinn, Sa. 5 b, Bb. 188 b, Ll. 30, Lec. 227.
 * fál:

Zc. iii. 466, Ireland; ¶ Falmag Laigen; ¶  Findchadh of, Fland Sina of, Lbl., 741, Lis. 198 b, 132 a.
 * fálmag:
 * See also ST Taylor: "Meyer and Thurneysen regard this as a poetic name for Ireland, i.e. the plain of Fál (cf. Inis Fáil, Falga, and cf. Henderson's ed. of Bricriu's Feast, p. 142). Cf. however note s.v."

Ireland; ¶ a lucht Fáil na F., Lct. 146.
 * fál na fían:

Rath na Senad fri F. na T. atuaid, Pd. viii. 20. famlaibhi; ¶ for Famlaibhi a tiribh Modhorn, I. 67 a; ¶  Mugdorna. famuir; ¶ gs.; ¶  taoisigh Treamhna, Teabhthadh, Teamhrach 7 Famuir, Hx. 682.
 * fál na temrach:

Joyce 1911
The following conclusions drawn from the preceding statement are I think indisputable:
 * 1. The stone now under the Coronation chair at Westminster is the very one brought from Scone in the thirteenth century, but it is not the Lia Fail.
 * 2. The present massive pillar-stone on the Forradh in Tara is not the Lia Fail.
 * 3. The Lia Fail was never brought away from Ireland, but remains still in Tara, buried and hidden somewhere in the soil; probably in the position where the old writers place it, on the north side of the Mound of Hostages

Use in poetry
The phrase "fíanna Fáil" occurs twice in a 12th-century Ossianic ballad about a mythical hound called Failinis or Sálinis. It refers simply to the Fianna; Stern glosses it "die Mannschaft Fáls (d. h. Irlands)".

Book of Lismore:

Brughainn do rinn an sonn, air sliabh Chuailgne maola lorn,
 * Text || Translation
 * p.11
 * p.11
 * p.11

Do chuir air Fianaibh Fail, aobhair ann do thionail. Shortly ere thou cam'st, Priest,
 * p.14

The hero was to build a fort,

On Cuailgne's bare and rounded hill.

He laid it on the Feine of Fail

Materials for the work to get.
 * p.27
 * p.27

Goirid a bhi dhuinn mar sin a Mhic Alpain, a chlemch,

Gu facaclh thugainn 'n ar na robh beb de Fhiannaibh Fail, We had been thus a brief space,
 * p.40

Thou priest, the son of Alpin,

When leaving the slaughter we saw,

All of Fail's Feinn now living, Gu tugsidear anns an ar trian beb de dh' Fhiannaibh Fail,
 * p.29
 * p.29

Air faighail clanna Boisgne an iuir fa chaiseal chrb 's an iorghuil Nior chleachd mi maidheamh mo ghlonn ger fuileach fior eutrom,
 * p.43
 * p.43

Gu bheildeis Fianna Fail os bhord Locha Feabhnil. I will not put forth my strength, Though bloody and light of foot, Until that with the Feinn of Fail, We have reached the shore of Loch Foyle.
 * p.62
 * }

An toran fa dheireadh a rinneadh do na Fiannuibh nuair a chaidh a Chlann an ceann catha ris na Lochlannuich.(from the Maclagan MSS) There might be a translation Shaoil mi gu robh Fianna Fail Agam sa chnoc gu h iomlan ; Cha robh ann do Fhiann Fàil Ach mìs' & Caoilde comhlan.

Book of Leinster:


 * Original || Whitley Stokes' translation
 * colspan="2"|Lines 9-12
 * Oenach Clochair rom6r Find
 * (It was] Oenach Clochair» that Find greatened,
 * is fianna Fail is cecA dind ;
 * And the champions of Ireland on every hilltop.
 * ramorsat Mumnig din maig
 * Munstermen from the plain greatened it,
 * ocus Fiachu mac Eogain.
 * And Fiachu son of Eogan.
 * colspan="2"|Lines 61-64
 * Luid Find for Luachair iarsain
 * Then Find went over Luachair
 * cosin traîg ac B^rramain :
 * To the strand at Berramain >.
 * anais Find co fiannaib Fiil
 * Find rested with Ireland's champions
 * os or in locha lindbàin.
 * Over the bank of the fair-watered Iake.
 * }
 * cosin traîg ac B^rramain :
 * To the strand at Berramain >.
 * anais Find co fiannaib Fiil
 * Find rested with Ireland's champions
 * os or in locha lindbàin.
 * Over the bank of the fair-watered Iake.
 * }
 * os or in locha lindbàin.
 * Over the bank of the fair-watered Iake.
 * }

In the mid-seventeenth century, Pádraigín hAicéad called the recently-defeated army of Confederate Ireland "fianna Fáil" in one of his poems:
 * Fáth m'atuirse, m'ainneise is mo dhiachair cáis / an t-anchruth n-a bhfaicim-se fianna Fáil.

Michael Hartnett's 1993 translation renders "fianna Fáil" as "our Irish army".

Dáibhí Ó Bruadair's "Fáilte Í Ceallaigh" (c.1692) used "Fianna Fáil" as a name for James II of England's Irish Army in the Williamite War. John C. MacErlean's 1913 Irish Texts Society edition leaves the phrase untranslated, with a footnote gloss "the Fenians of Fál, i.e. the Irish army."

Modern use
Fianna Fáil references two elements of the legendary heroic age of Ireland, one emphasising sovereignty and the other military prowess. It was thus adopted during the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by those arguing for the use of force to restore Ireland's lost independence.

The Irish Volunteers, a nationalist militia founded in 1913, originally used Fianna Fáil as the Irish translation of their name. This was suggested by Peadar Ua Laoghaire. This was later changed to Óglaigh na hÉireann "the warriors of Ireland", although the initials "FF" remained on their badge. In Cork in 1914, Volunteer leader Terence MacSwiney published a journal called ''Fianna Fáil : the Irish army. A journal for militant Ireland''. "The periodical's sub-title, 'The Irish Army', may be taken as what was believed to be the English equivalent [of FF]." In the first issue he explained the choice of title:"
 * it is the name of the ancient soldiers of Ireland, of Fionn and his Fian, the armed patriots who held Ireland against the might of Rome. And it is our conception of an armed citizenship now, that is should fulfill the same high destiny today

During the Irish War of Independence of 1919–21, the Volunteers became the army of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic and were renamed the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The modern Irish Defence Forces, developed from the National Army of the Irish Civil War of 1922–23, sees itself as the successor to the "Old IRA", and uses the Óglaigh na hÉireann name and FF badge.

The Volunteers' marching song "The Soldier's Song" was adopted in 1926 as the national anthem of the Irish Free State. An Irish translation by Liam Ó Rinn, written c.1917–21, became widely known in the 1930s and has now largely superseded the English original. The opening words "Soldiers are we" are rendered by Rinn as Sinne Fianna Fáil "we are the Fianna of Fál", and the title as Amhrán na bhFiann "the Song of the Fiann" (Fiann, as stated above, being the singular of Fianna).

The republican Sinn Féin party, controlled by the losers of the Civil War, split in 1926 over the question of participation in the politics of the Free State. A new party was founded, led by Éamon de Valera. While de Valera wanted "Fianna Fáil" as its name, his deputy Seán Lemass favoured "the Republican Party"; as a compromise, it is officially "Fianna Fáil — the Republic Party", though in practice usually abbreviated to "Fianna Fáil". De Valera explained the name at the time:
 * The name Fianna Fáíl has been chosen to symbolise a banding together of the people for national service, with a standard of personal honour for all who join as high as that which characterised the ancient Fianna Éireann, and a spirit of devotion equal to that of the Irish Volunteers from 1913 to 1921

Seán Ó Faoláin glossed it as "Soldiers of Ireland" in 1939.

Tom Garvin:
 * The words 'Fianna Fáil' literally mean 'Warriors of Destiny' or 'Fenians of Destiny' and form a poetic phrase meaning approximately 'Army of Ireland', Ireland being the Island of Destiny (Inis Fáil, Innisfallen) in the Gaelic poetic tradition. The name has a variety of symbolic resonances: the term 'Fianna' combines an echo of the Fenians with an evocation of the pre Conquest and, indeed, pre Christian warrior bands of Fionn Mac Cumhaill. 'Fianna Fáil' was also an alternative official title of the Irish Volunteers,and every Free State soldier's cap badge contained the FF symbol which had been inherited from the Volunteers of1913. The name asserted the continuity of de Valera's party with the militant republican tradition of Sinn Féin, the IRA, the Fenians and the United Irishmen. As a title of the armed forces of the Free State,  'Fianna Fáil' also suggested an identity between the power of the state and the new party. A final point in favour of the name was its very untranslatability, as de Valera remarked later with a smile, 'there was some virtue in that also.'
 * final quote references https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1976/0519/Pg014.html#Ar01401

Michael Gallagher:
 * The party's Irish name had 'a variety of symbolic resonances', as well as having the advantage of being untranslateable (Garvin, 1981 a [The Evolution of Irish nationalist politics, Gill & Macmillan], p. 154), at least into anything that might repel any floating voter. It is most often translated as 'the Soldiers of Destiny', although 'Soldiers of Ireland' more closely captures the spirit of the original.

Noel Whelan:
 * De Valera's suggestion had the mystic attraction of reaching back to Irish mythology, evoking stories of the legendary hero soldier Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna. “Fianna Fáil” also suggested continuity with the independence movement, as it had been one of the Irish names proposed for the Irish Volunteers, and the letters FF had been included in the Volunteers' badge. (This design was continued when . The name also had the advantage, in de Valera's view, of being untranslatable (though that did not prevent it later being incorrectly, and usually derisively, translated as “soldiers of destiny”).

The party's website states:
 * he party’s name, Fianna Fáil - the Republican Party, was adopted on 2 April 1926. The name Fianna Fáil had a double purpose: it suggested continuity with recent history (as the Irish name for the Volunteers) and also with ancient Irish history. The name Fianna Fáil means ‘soldiers of destiny’ and is taken from Old Irish. The Fianna were the warriors of Fionn Mac Cumhaill - the title emphasised the party’s deep roots over millennia in the historic Irish nation.

military.ie website; apparently extracted from An Cosantóir, and judging from the language probably a rather old article:
 * The Badge design (common to all Corps and Services and all orders of dress) is derived from the badge of the Irish Volunteers and was designed by Professor Eoin MacNeill, Chairman of the National Executive of the Irish Volunteers. This badge was originally adopted by the Irish Volunteers in October 1914 as the official badge of the organisation. The Centrepiece is formed of the letters ‘FF’. These letters signify ‘Fianna Fáil’. The word ‘Fianna’ is the name of the ancient military organisation (circa 3rd Century A.D.) forming what then corresponded to the standing Army of the country. The word ‘Fáil’ means ‘Destiny’.
 * The enumerable legends and traditions associated with the magic word 'Fál' transport us back to the remote, prehistoric period of the De Dannan occupation of the country. The celebrated Lia Fáil was brought hither by them when they first decided on the conquest of Erin. This 'Stone of Destiny' was one of their most jealously guarded treasures. It was worshipped and revered, not only by the De Dannans, but also by their Milesian successors to the sovereignty of Ireland, as a gift of the gods.
 * When the sons of Earc, having established an Irish colony in Scotland, found themselves sufficiently strong to assert their rights to the sovereignty of that country, Fergus, the first of the Kings thus selected, applied to his brother, who was then Ard Rí of Ireland, for a loan of the Lia Fáil so that the ceremony of the coronation might be performed with all the religious solemnity and with all the rites and pomp with which such ceremonies had been, for thousands of years, performed by his ancestors. The Lia Fáil was thus transported to Scotland, and there it remained, in the monastery of Scone until the reign of Edward I of England

Miscellaneous sources for various translations or glosses:
 * Warriors of Ireland