Fiachu Muillethan (broad crown) or Fiachu Fer Da Liach (of the two sorrows), son of
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 ...
, was a legendary king belonging to 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 ...
, the proto-historical ancestors 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 ...
dynasties of
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
. He is known primarily from the saga ''
Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire'', in which he is assisted by the famous
Mug Ruith
Mug Ruith (or Mogh Roith, "slave of the wheel") is a figure in Irish mythology, a powerful blind druid of Munster who lived on Valentia Island, County Kerry. He could grow to enormous size, and his breath caused storms and turned men to stone. He ...
, who repels an invasion of his kingdom by
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 ...
. The sons of Fiachu Muillethan were Ailill Flann Mór and
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 ...
.
Like his father Éogan Mór, grandfather
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 Bat ...
, and great-grandfather
, Fiachu Muillethan appears to be mainly fictional. The circumstances of his life are entirely legendary, seemingly invented so as to provide the Eóganachta with an ancestral contemporary of Cormac mac Airt. This is apparent from the conception of Fiachu as described in the ''
Cath Maige Mucrama
The ''Cath Maige Mucrama'' (in English the Battle of Mag Mucrama) is an early Middle Irish language tale which forms part of the Cycles of the Kings.
Content
The cast includes several major figures from Irish pseudo-history, Ailill Aulom, his son ...
''.
While the career of Fiachu Muillethan may be entirely legendary, that of his supposed great-grandson
Conall Corc
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 ...
, the true founder of the Eóganachta, may preserve an amount of historical fact.
As in many such cases, ''Muillethan'' and ''Fer Da Liach'' may have started out two different figures later thought to be the same, whether mythological or historical. The medieval genealogists are at pains to assert they were identical but base their argument only on the story of Fiachu's birth in the ''Cath Maige Mucrama'', a well known saga of
political fiction
Political fiction employs narrative to Political commentary, comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alt ...
.
References
*
Francis John 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. Af ...
, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings''. Dublin:
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...
. 2nd revised edition, 2001.
*
Thomas Charles-Edwards
Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards (born 11 November 1943) is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. He formerly held the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College.
Biography
He was educated at ...
, ''Early Christian Ireland''.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
. 2000.
* Michael A. O'Brien (ed.) with intr. by John V. Kelleher, ''Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae''.
DIAS. 1976. / partial digital edition:
Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Donnchadh Ó Corráin (28 February 1942 – 25 October 2017) was an Irish historian and Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at University College Cork. He earned his BA in history and Irish from that institution, graduating in 1964.
He was a ...
(ed.)
Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502 University College, Cork
Corpus of Electronic Texts 1997.
* Seán Ó Duinn (ed. and tr.), ''Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire: The Siege of Knocklong''. Cork: Mercier Press. 1992.
* Dan M. Wiley
* Dan M. Wiley
* Dan M. Wiley
{{Refend
Legendary Irish kings
Cycles of the Kings