An Chraobh Airgid

Person

Eochaid Airem

Eochaidh Aireamh · Old Irish Eochaid Airem

King of Tara, husband of Étaín: the Ploughman.

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The men of Ireland would not come to his Feast of Tara until he had a queen, so he married Étaín. He beat Midir at fidchell, for fifty horses and then for work: the stones cleared from Mide and a causeway laid over a bog. Watching the people of the síd yoke their oxen at the shoulder, he took up the custom, and was called Airem, “ploughman”. Then he lost the last game. The Egerton text says he reigned twelve years and died by fire at Frémainn.

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.

See also

  • Brí Léith Ardagh Hill (Slieve Golry). Midir’s síd, which Eochaid Airem dug open to win back his queen.
  • Mess Buachalla The cowherds’ foster-child: cast out as a baby, and mother of Conaire Mór.
  • 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.

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