An Chraobh Airgid

Person

Conaire Mór

Conaire Mór

King of Tara, begotten by a man who came as a bird, whose golden reign ended at Da Derga’s Hostel.

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

His mother, Mess Buachalla, conceived him by a man who came to her through the roof in the shape of a bird and told her the boy must not kill birds; she bore him to Eterscél, king of Tara. Némglan sent him naked to Tara to be made king, and set out the geasa of his reign: never to go right-handwise round Tara, never to let three Reds go before him to the house of Red, never to let a lone woman in after sunset, and more. In his reign no one in Ireland killed another and no wind stirred a cow’s tail, until he spared his reaving foster-brothers and broke his geasa one by one on the way to Da Derga’s Hostel. There he died of a thirst, and his head praised Mac Cécht for the water he brought too late.

Kin and bonds

In the tales

  • The Wooing of Étaín A fly on the wind drops into a golden cup and is born again, remembering nothing. A thousand years on, her first husband comes to Tara to play for a kiss.
  • The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel A king bound by geasa breaks them one by one on the road, and knows exactly what it means.

See also

  • Bruiden Da Derga Da Derga's Hostel, Bohernabreena. The great hostel on the road of Cualu where Conaire Mór died.
  • Némglan King of the birds of Conaire’s father, who sent Conaire naked to Tara.
  • Teamhair The Hill of Tara. Seat of the high kings, and of the stone that cried out.

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.