Corc mac Luigthig (340-379),Genealogy of the House of Mac-Carthy formerly Sovereign of the Two Momonies or Southern Ireland, P. Louis Lainé, pg. 26, https://celt.ucc.ie/published/F830000-001.html also called Conall Corc, Corc of Cashel, and Corc mac Láire, is the hero of

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

tales which form part of the origin legend of 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 ...

, a group of kindreds which traced their descent from Conall Corc and took their name from his ancestor

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 E ...

. The early kindred they belonged to 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 fair ...

. He was probably a grandson of

Ailill Flann Bec Ailill Flann Bec, son of Fiachu Muillethan, was an Irish dynast belonging to the Deirgtine, the proto-historical ancestors of the historical Eóganachta dynasties of Munster. He was the father of Luigthech, also known as Lugaid, and thus the gra ...

, and possible cousins were

Dáire Cerbba Dáire Cerbba (or Cerba, Cearba, Cearb; meaning "Silver Dáire" or "Dáire the Sharp/Cutting") was a 4th-century Irish dynast who was evidently a king of late prehistoric central northern Munster, called Medón Mairtíne at the time. A frequentl ...

and the famous

Crimthann mac Fidaig Crimthann Mór, son of Fidach , also written Crimthand Mór, was a semi-mythological king of Munster and High King of Ireland of the 4th century. He gained territory in Britain and Gaul, but died poisoned by his sister Mongfind. It is possible t ...

. The latter is his opponent in a celebrated cycle of stories.

Biography

The name and identity of Corc's actual father is something of a mystery, however. While certainly belonging to the kindred of the proto-Eóganachta, he is inconsistently named in the genealogies and tales as Lugaid or Láre. Further confusion is caused by the fact that a certain Láre Fidach is named as the father of Crimthann in one, although not necessarily the oldest, source (Laud 610), because this would rather implausibly make him and Corc brothers. In the tales Crimthann is his uncle or cousin. David Sproule more or less gets around this by arguing that Corc's father should be Lugaid Láre and that the Laud pedigree has been misread and/or is erroneous. One of the two wives of Conall Corc was

Aimend In Irish mythology and genealogy, Aimend is the daughter of Óengus Bolg, king of the Dáirine or Corcu Loígde. She marries Conall Corc, founder of the Eóganachta dynasties, and through him is an ancestor of the "inner circle" septs of Eóganach ...

, daughter of

Óengus Bolg Óengus Bolg, son of Lugaid, son of Mac Nia, son of Mac Con, son (or descendant) of Lugaid Loígde, son of Dáire Doimthech,O'Brien, p. 262O'Donovan was a king of the Corcu Loígde, and an ancestor of the Eóganachta "inner circle" through his daug ...

, king of the

Corcu Loígde The Corcu Loígde (Corcu Lóegde, Corco Luigde, Corca Laoighdhe, Laidhe), meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Mun ...

. The other, the daughter of the King of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

, is stated in the genealogies to have been

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 eldest ...

, although she is likely confused with an Irish queen of the same name, who may or may not have been Crimthann mac Fidaig's sister. These tales include: * ''

Senchas Fagbála Caisil ''Senchas Fagbála Caisil'' "The Story of the Finding of Cashel" is an early medieval Irish text which relates, in two variants, the origin legend of the kingship of Cashel. Myles Dillon has dated the first variant (§§ 1-3) to the 8th century, ...

'' (The story of the finding of Cashel) * ''Conall Corc 7 Ríge Caisil'' (Conall Corc and the Kingship of Cashel) * ''Comthoth Lóegairi co 7 a aided'' (The Conversion of Lóegaire to the Faith and his Violent Death) * ''Conall Corc 7 Corco Loígde'' (Conall Corc and the Corco Loígde)

References

Sources

* * * * * *

Biography

References

Sources

Further reading