Géde Ollgothach
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Géde Ollgothach, son of Ollom Fotla, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother Slánoll. His epithet means "possessing a great voice", and the ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...
'' says during his reign all his subjects had voices as sweet as the strings of a
zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat ...
. He ruled for eight, or twelve, or seventeen years, before being killed by, according to the ''Lebor Gabála'', the otherwise unknown Fíachu son of Fíadchú; according to
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 ...
and the ''
Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Flood myt ...
'', by his nephew and successor Fíachu Findoilches, son of
Fínnachta Fínnachta, son of Ollom Fotla, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland in succession to his father. His given name was Elim. There is said to have been snow of wine (Old Irish ''fín'', "wine", ' ...
. The chronology of Keating's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates his reign to 880–863 BC, that of the ''
Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Flood myt ...
'' to 1241–1231 BC. A medieval tract called ''Cóir Anmann'' ("The Fitness of Names") says that Géde Ollgothach was another name for
Érimón Érimón, (modern spelling: Éiremhón), commonly Anglicised as Heremon, son of Míl Espáine (and great-grandson of Breoghan, king of Celtic Galicia), according to medieval Irish legends and historical traditions, was one of the chieftains who t ...
. According to some texts, he came from the
Cruthin The Cruthin (; mga, Cruithnig or ; ga, label= Modern Irish, Cruithne ) were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry. They are also said ...
dynasty of the
Dál nAraidi Dál nAraidi (; "Araide's part") or Dál Araide, sometimes Latinised as Dalaradia or Anglicised as Dalaray,Boyd, Hugh AlexanderIrish Dalriada ''The Glynns: Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society''. Volume 76 (1978). was a Cruthin kin ...
. He also appears in the Pictish Chronicle as a 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 e ...
.W. F. Skene, ''Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and Other Early Memorials of Scottish History'', 1867
p. 5
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References

Legendary High Kings of Ireland {{Ireland-royal-stub