An Chraobh Airgid

Person

Conchobar mac Nessa

Conchúr mac Neasa · Old Irish Conchobar mac Nessa

King of Ulster, at Emain Macha.

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

King of the Ulstermen in the tales, holding court at Emain Macha. Ness was his mother; the Táin makes Cathbad the druid his father, though others say it was Fachtna Fáthach. His sister Deichtine was the mother of Cú Chulainn, and he took the boy under his protection; when the boy broke every weapon and chariot at Emain, only the king’s own held. He is the king, too, in the tale of Deirdre and the sons of Uisliu.

Kin and bonds

In the tales

  • 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.

See also

  • Crunniuc The rich man of the Ulster hills whose boast made Macha race the king’s horses.
  • Culann The smith whose hound gave Cú Chulainn his name.
  • Emain Macha Navan Fort. Royal seat of the Ulstermen, named for Macha’s twins.
  • Eogan mac Durthacht King of Fernmag, and the killer of Naoise.
  • Leborcham The satirist no door could be shut against, who told Deirdre the name of Naoise.
  • Lóegaire Búadach Lóegaire the Triumphant, eldest of the three champions of Ulster.
  • Sualtam Cú Chulainn’s father, whose severed head went on crying the warning in Emain.

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.