An Chraobh Airgid

Person

Fergus mac Róich

Fergus mac Róich

The Ulster hero whose guarantee was broken, and who went over to Connacht.

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

He went as surety for the sons of Uisliu when Conchobar called them home, and was kept at the ale-feasts while they were killed. In his fury he burned Emain Macha and went into exile with three thousand men, to Medb and Ailill in Connacht. So when Medb’s army marches on Ulster in the Táin, Fergus is with it as its guide, though Cú Chulainn, who stands against it, is his own foster-son.

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.
  • 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

  • Ailill mac Máta King of Connacht, Medb’s husband.
  • Emain Macha Navan Fort. Royal seat of the Ulstermen, named for Macha’s twins.
  • Medb Queen of Connacht, who went to war for the Brown Bull of Cúailnge.

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.