Cairenn Chasdub; Caireann ("curly-black (hair)") was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, the daughter of Sachell Balb, king of the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, the second wife of the Irish High King

Eochaid Mugmedón Eochaid Mugmedón () was a semi-legendary Irish king. According to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, Eochaid was a High King of Ireland, best known as the father of Niall of the Nine Hostages and ancestor of the Uí Néill and Conna ...

, and the mother of

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...

. When she was pregnant with Niall, Eochaid's first wife

Mongfind Mongfind (or Mongfhionn in modern Irish)—meaning "fair hair" or "white hair"—is a figure from Irish legend. She is said to have been the wife, of apparent Munster origins, of the legendary High King Eochaid Mugmedón and mother of his eldes ...

was jealous and made her do heavy labour, hoping to make her miscarry. She gave birth beside a well as she was drawing water, and, out of fear of Mongfind, left the baby exposed to the birds. But the child was rescued and brought up by a poet called Torna. When the child, Niall, grew up he returned to Tara and relieved his mother of her labour, and went on to become High King himself.

Tom Peete Cross Tom Peete Cross (December 8, 1879 – December 25, 1951) was an American Celticist and folklorist. Education and career Cross did his undergraduate education at Hampden–Sydney College, receiving his B.A. in 1899. He went on to Harvard Univ ...

& Clark Harris Slover (eds.)
"The Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon"
''Ancient Irish Tales'', 1936, pp. 508-513Tom Peete Cross & Clark Harris Slover (eds.)

''Ancient Irish Tales'', 1936, pp. 514-517 Given Niall's dates (he is traditionally supposed to have died around the turn of the 5th century, although modern historians place him half a century later),

Francis J. Byrne Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian. Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. A ...

, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Second Edition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001, Chapter 5 it is anachronistic for his mother to have been a Saxon, but O'Rahilly argues that the name ''Cairenn'' is derived from the Latin name

Carina Carina may refer to: Places Australia * Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura Serbia * Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District ...

, and that it is plausible that she might have been a Romano-Briton.

T. F. O'Rahilly Thomas Francis O'Rahilly ( ga, Tomás Ó Rathile; 11 November 1882 – 16 November 1953)Ó Sé, Diarmuid.O'Rahilly, Thomas Francis (‘T. F.’). ''Dictionary of Irish Biography''. (ed.) James McGuire, James Quinn. Cambridge, United Kingdom: C ...

, ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', 1946, Chapter 12 Indeed,

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

describes her not as a Saxon but as the "daughter of the king of Britain".

, ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'
1.48
/ref>

References

Cycles of the Kings Women of medieval Ireland 5th-century Irish people 5th-century Irish women {{celt-myth-stub