Fiona's dad was in the Irish armed forces and generally loved guns. When Fiona's mom was pregnant, they thought it was going to be a boy, so he was very excited that he would be able to share his passion with a son. But, as it turned out, his wife gave birth to a daughter and died in childbirth; this would be the only child he would ever have. He wasn't very pleased, but he did the best he could to share his passion for guns with her; the first time he was truly proud of her was when she was six years old and she shot and killed a full-grown deer.

Eventually, when Fiona got to Cairnholm, she actually taught every single one of the children how to properly shoot a rifle.