The ''Cath Maige Mucrama'' (in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
the Battle of Mag Mucrama) is an early
Middle Irish language
Middle Irish, sometimes called Middle Gaelic ( ga, An Mheán-Ghaeilge, gd, Meadhan-Ghàidhlig), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old Engl ...
tale which forms part of the
Cycles of the Kings
The Cycles of the Kings or Kings' Cycles, sometimes called the Historical Cycle, are a body of Old and Middle Irish literature. They comprise legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as ''Buile Shuibhne'', "The Madnes ...
.
Content
The cast includes several major figures from Irish pseudo-history,
Ailill Aulom
Ailill Ollamh (or Oilill Olum) in Irish traditional history was the son of Mug Nuadat and was a king of the southern half of Ireland, placed in the 3rd century by early modern Irish genealogy. Sadb ingen Chuinn, daughter of Conn of the Hundred Ba ...
, his son
Éogan Mór
In Irish traditional history Eógan (or Eoghan Mór—a name also used by his grandfather, Mug Nuadat), eldest son of Ailill Ollamh, was a 2nd or 3rd century AD king of Munster. He is credited with founding or at least giving his name to the ...
and his step- and foster-son
Mac Con
Lugaid Mac Con, often known simply as Mac Con, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the Corcu Loígde, and thus to the Dáirine. His father was Macnia mac Lugdach, and his mothe ...
, along with the
King of Tara
The term Kingship of Tara () was a title of authority in ancient Ireland - the title is closely associated with the archaeological complex at the Hill of Tara. The position was considered to be of eminent authority in medieval Irish literature ...
Art mac Cuinn. Mag Mucrama, the plain of the counting of the pigs, was in
Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...
, in the region of
Athenry
Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...
,
County Galway. A tradition or
folk etymology, in Irish ''
dindshenchas
''Dindsenchas'' or ''Dindshenchas'' (modern spellings: ''Dinnseanchas'' or ''Dinnsheanchas'' or ''Dınnṡeanċas''), meaning "lore of places" (the modern Irish word ''dinnseanchas'' means "topography"), is a class of onomastic text in early Ir ...
'', has it that the plain was named for the magical pigs which infested it until banished by Queen
Medb of Connacht.
[Wiley, "Cath Maige Mucrama".]
Mac Con, exiled from Ireland, returns with the aid of the king of Britain, along with an army of Britons and Saxons, and conquers Ireland as far as Connacht where Éogan, with the help of Art mac Cuinn, plans to fight. The night before the battle Éogan and Art sleep with their hosts' daughters, conceiving the sons who will succeed them,
Fiachu Muillethan
Fiachu Muillethan (broad crown) or Fiachu Fer Da Liach (of the two sorrows), son of Éogan Mór, was a legendary king belonging to the Deirgtine, the proto-historical ancestors of the Eóganachta dynasties of Munster. He is known primarily from th ...
in Éogan's case and
Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt, also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings ...
in Art's. Both Éogan and Art, as is foreseen, die in the battle at Mag Mucrama, and Mac Con becomes king of Tara.
[MacKillop, ''Dictionary'', "Cath Maige Mucrama"; Wiley, "Cath Maige Mucrama".]
Mac Con takes Cormac mac Airt as his foster son, and rules for seven years. He then pronounces a false judgement, showing that he is unfit to rule, while Cormac gives a right judgment, showing that he is the stuff of kings. Disasters ensue—"no grass came through the earth, nor leaf on tree, nor grain in corn" says the story—and Mac Con is deposed and Cormac made king in his place. Mac Con travels to Ailill's court, where his foster-mother warns him that he is in peril. When Ailill embraces Mac Con he bites him with his poison tooth, wounding Mac Con, who flees but is killed by one of Ailill's warriors.
Contexts
The earliest surviving manuscript containing the tale is in the ''
Book of Leinster
The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...
'', dated to the middle 12th century. The most recent translator dates the tale in that form to the 9th century.
The purpose of the tale is presumed by some to have been political, to explain, and to justify, how it came about that the descendants of Art, that is the
Connachta, and of Éogan, the
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta () were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, an ...
, occupied the leading political positions in Ireland—the Connachta and their offshoot the
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into t ...
provided the
High King of Ireland and the
King of Connacht
The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named ...
, the Eóganachta the
King of Munster
The kings of Munster ( ga, Rí Mumhan), ruled from the establishment of Munster during the Irish Iron Age, until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the '' Book of Invasions'', the earliest ...
—when their ancestral figures had been defeated by Mac Con, whose own descendants the
Corcu Loígde were no longer a force after the 7th century. As such it forms part of the common origin legends of the Uí Néill and the Eóganachta. Mac Con belonged to the ancient
Dáirine, who were cousins of the
Ulaid
Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and i ...
. The ancestors of the Eóganachta are known as the
Deirgtine
The Deirgtine (Deirgthine, Dergtine, Dergthine), Clanna Dergthened or "Descendants of Dego Dergthened" were the proto-historical ancestors of the historical Eóganachta dynasties of Munster. Their origins are unclear but they may have been of fai ...
.
Editions, translations, and adaptions
The Battle of Mag Mucrama has been translated by
Whitley Stokes
Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA (28 February 1830 – 13 April 1909) was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar.
Background
He was a son of William Stokes (1804–1878), and a grandson of Whitley Stokes the physician and anti-Malthusian (1763 ...
("The Battle of Mag Mucrime", ''Revue Celtique'', 13, 1892), by
Standish O'Grady (included in ''Silva Gaedelica'', 2 volumes, 1892) and by M. O'Daly in ''Cath Maige Mucrama: The Battle of Mag Mucrama'' (1975).
A modernization into modern Irish was published by
Peadar Ua Laoghaire
Father Peadar Ua Laoghaire or Peadar Ó Laoghaire (, first name locally ; 30 April 1839 – 21 March 1920), also anglicized as Peter O'Leary, was an Irish writer and Catholic priest, who is regarded today as one of the founders of modern literatu ...
in 1917 as ''Lughaidh Mac Con''.
Lughaidh Mac Con (1917)
at archive.org
Annalistic references
John O'Donovan queried its supposed location in the Ordnance Survey Books for County Galway. As late as the 11th century, it was still used as a locative term, as demonstrated by this obit in the Annals of Inisfallen
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between ann ...
:
* ''AI1044.6 Repose of Maenach Muccruma in Achad Deó.''
Notes
References
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External links
Translated text
of ''The Battle of Mag Mucrama'' at ancienttexts.org
Cycles of the Kings
Irish texts