Bresal Bó-Díbad, son of
Rudraige, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a
High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...
. He took power after killing his predecessor,
Finnat Már
Finnat Már ("the great", later spellings Innatmar, Ionnadmhar) son of Nia Segamain, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He succeeded to the throne after the death of Rudraige mac Sithrigi of pl ...
, and ruled for eleven years, during which there was a plague on cattle (
Old Irish ''bó díbad'', "extinction of cows") which left only one bull and one heifer alive.
A story about the
passage tomb of
Dowth (''Dubhadh''), in the ''
Dindsenchas'' (lore of places), says that Bresal compelled the men of Ireland to build a tower to heaven within a day. His sister cast a spell, making the sun stand still so that one day lasted indefinitely. However, Bresal committed incest with his sister, which broke the spell. The sun set and the builders left, hence the name ''Dubhadh'' ('darkening'). This tale has been linked with
solstice alignments at
Brú na Bóinne.
[Hensey, Robert. Re-discovering the winter solstice alignment at Newgrange, in ''The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology''. Oxford University Press, 2017. pp.11-13] It has also been linked with recent DNA analysis, which found that a man buried at nearby
Newgrange had parents who were most likely siblings. This could mean that knowledge of the event survived for thousands of years before being recorded as a myth in the Middle Ages.
He was killed by Finnat's son
Lugaid Luaigne. The ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn'' synchronises his reign with that of
Ptolemy X Alexander I
Ptolemy X Alexander I ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Ἀλέξανδρος, ''Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros'') was King of Egypt from 107 BC till his death in 88 BC, in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter until 101 BC, and ...
(110–88 BC) in
Egypt. The chronology of
Geoffrey Keating's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates his reign to 151–140 BC, that of the ''
Annals of the Four Masters'' to 210–199 BC.
['' Annals of the Four Masters']
M4990-5001
/ref>
References
Legendary High Kings of Ireland
2nd-century BC legendary rulers
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