Fíachu Findoilches, son of
Fínnachta, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a
High King of Ireland. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his uncle
Géde Ollgothach, whom, according to some versions, he had killed. His epithet
findoilches means "white or fair hidden one", although some sources call him
Fíachu Cendfinnán ("little white/fair head"), perhaps confusing him with the much earlier
Fir Bolg king
of that name. It is said that all the cattle, or flowers, of Ireland had white heads in his reign, and that he exacted a tax on white-headed cattle. He founded
Kells, County Meath. He is said to have been the first king in Ireland to dig wells, but
grain did not stay on the stalk in his reign. He ruled for either twenty or thirty years, and was killed by Géde Ollgothach's son
Berngal in revenge for his father. The chronology of
Geoffrey Keating's
Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to 863–833 BC, that of the
Annals of the Four Masters to 1231–1209 BC.