An Chraobh Airgid
At misty dusk tall shining sídhe step out of the lintelled mouth of Oweynagat, black cats in the grass, while a lit hall stands on the mound behind.

Connachta · Connacht

Ráth Cruachan

Rathcroghan and Oweynagat · Co. Roscommon

Queen Medb’s royal seat, and a cave called the gate of hell.

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 Táin begins here, in a quarrel in bed between Medb and Ailill over which of them is richer, and it ends on the plain below, where the two great bulls fought. Nearby is Uaimh na gCat, the Cave of the Cats, sometimes called “Ireland’s Gate to Hell”. In The Adventure of Nera the host of the sídhe comes out of the cave of Cruachan on Samhain eve, and Nera follows them in; in Bricriu’s Feast three cats are let loose from it on the champions of Ulster.

In the tales

  • The Dream of Aengus For a year a girl plays to Aengus in his sleep. When he finds her, she is one of thrice fifty girls on silver chains, and every other year she is a swan.
  • 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 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.
  • The Brown Bull of Cúailnge The great bull of Cooley, for whom Medb went to war.
  • Conall Cernach One of the three great champions of Ulster.
  • The Crown of Brión A diadem of gold kept in a well in the síd of Cruachan: one of the three wonders of Ireland.
  • Fedelm The prophetess of Connacht who saw Medb’s host crimson with blood.
  • Finnbennach The White-horned: the bull of Ailill’s herd, who would not belong to a woman.
  • Lóegaire Búadach Lóegaire the Triumphant, eldest of the three champions of Ulster.
  • Medb Queen of Connacht, who went to war for the Brown Bull of Cúailnge.
  • Nera The man who followed the sídhe into the cave of Cruachan.
  • Samhain The start of winter. The night the mounds stand open.
  • The Woman of Síd Cruachan Nera’s wife in the síd of Cruachan, who showed him how to save his people.

Sources

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