An Chraobh Airgid
On an autumn morning the palisaded hill of Emain Macha and the great Red Branch hall rise out of white mist, a troop of boys at play on the green below, a lake beyond.

Ulaid · Ulster

Emain Macha

Navan Fort · Co. Armagh

Royal seat of the Ulstermen, named for Macha’s twins.

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.

Here Macha was made to race the king’s horses, bore twins at the finish, and laid her curse on Ulster. In the Ulster tales it is the court of King Conchobar and of the young Cú Chulainn.

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 Debility of the Ulstermen A woman walks into a lonely man’s house and stays, so long as he never speaks of her at the assembly. Then he boasts she can outrun the king’s horses.
  • 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

  • Ard Mhacha Armagh. Where Diurán laid the silver from the net on the altar.
  • Cathbad The druid of Emain Macha, who named Cú Chulainn.
  • Conchobar mac Nessa King of Ulster, at Emain Macha.
  • Cú Roí mac Dáiri A king of Munster and a master of disguise, the last judge of the champions of Ulster.
  • Dún Rudraige Dundrum. Where Bricriu built his house for the feast.
  • Eogan mac Durthacht King of Fernmag, and the killer of Naoise.
  • Fergus mac Róich The Ulster hero whose guarantee was broken, and who went over to Connacht.
  • Lóegaire Búadach Lóegaire the Triumphant, eldest of the three champions of Ulster.
  • Macha The woman whose curse fell on the men of Ulster.
  • Mag Muirthemne The plain of Muirthemne. The plain where Cú Chulainn grew up.
  • Naoise A son of Uisliu: singer, hunter, warrior, and the man Deirdre chose.
  • Sualtam Cú Chulainn’s father, whose severed head went on crying the warning in Emain.

Sources

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