An Chraobh Airgid

Person

Ailill mac Máta

Ailill mac Máta

King of Connacht, Medb’s husband.

Open it on the full site There every name opens, and a web shows who is kin to whom.

He takes his name from his mother, Máta of Muresc; in the Táin he says his brothers were kings of Tara and of Leinster. The Book of Leinster’s telling of the Táin begins with the talk between him and Medb in their bed at Cruachan, over which of them was the richer. In The Dream of Aengus he summons Ethal Anbuail, storms his síd when he will not come, and makes him give up the secret of his daughter Caer.

Kin and bonds

In the tales

  • The Dream of Aengus For a year a girl plays to Aengus in his sleep. When he finds her, she is one of thrice fifty girls on silver chains, and every other year she is a swan.
  • The Boyhood Deeds of Cú Chulainn A small boy walks alone to Emain Macha, kills a smith’s hound and takes its place, and on a day of prophecy chooses fame over a long life.
  • Bricriu’s Feast Bricriu of the Poison Tongue throws a feast, promises the champion’s portion to three heroes at once, and sits at his window to watch.
  • The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu Deirdre was reared in secret to be the king’s wife. Then one winter she saw a raven drinking blood on the snow, and chose another man.
  • The Cattle Raid of Cooley An argument in bed over who is richer ends in a war for a brown bull, and one young man holding a ford against all Ireland.
  • The Adventure of Nera On Samhain night a man goes out in the dark to tie a withe round a hanged man’s foot, and follows the host of the sídhe into the cave of Cruachan.

See also

  • Caer Ibormeith The girl Aengus saw in his sleep: a swan one year, a woman the next.
  • The Crown of Brión A diadem of gold kept in a well in the síd of Cruachan: one of the three wonders of Ireland.
  • Fergus mac Róich The Ulster hero whose guarantee was broken, and who went over to Connacht.
  • Finnbennach The White-horned: the bull of Ailill’s herd, who would not belong to a woman.
  • Nera The man who followed the sídhe into the cave of Cruachan.
  • Ráth Cruachan Rathcroghan and Oweynagat. Queen Medb’s royal seat, and a cave called the gate of hell.
  • The Woman of Síd Cruachan Nera’s wife in the síd of Cruachan, who showed him how to save his people.

Sources

Medieval manuscript. Written down by Irish scholars between the eighth and seventeenth centuries.

Each tale above lists the sources it is retold from. Every source the site draws on is listed on the full site.