An Chraobh Airgid
At first light on a breezy morning a green hill on the midland plain has a stone doorway sealed by a slab edged in gold, and a tiny purple-winged fly above.

Mide · Meath

Brí Léith

Ardagh Hill (Slieve Golry) · Co. Longford

Midir’s síd, which Eochaid Airem dug open to win back his queen.

Open it on the full site There it is marked on the map of the five fifths, where the road of a tale can be traced.

The síd of Midir. The Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900) puts it at Slieve Golry, the hill a mile and a half south-west of Ardagh in Co. Longford, and says it was “in more ancient times called Bri-Leth”. From here Fuamnach blew Étaín away on the wind, and here Eochaid Airem dug for nine years to have her back.

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

  • Eochaid Airem King of Tara, husband of Étaín: the Ploughman.
  • Étaín The woman born twice: wife of Midir in the síd, then queen of Tara.
  • Fuamnach Midir’s first wife, who turned Étaín into a fly.
  • Macha The woman whose curse fell on the men of Ulster.
  • Midir Lord of the síd of Brí Léith, who came back for the wife he had lost.

Sources

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