The Red Branch (; alternatively, ) is the name of two of the three royal houses of the king of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
,
Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of Ulaid, Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh). He is usually said to be the son of the High King of Ireland, High King Fachtna Fáthach, ...
, at his capital
Emain Macha
Navan Fort ( sga, Emain Macha ; ga, Eamhain Mhacha, label=Modern Irish ) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the cap ...
(Navan Fort, near
Armagh
Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...
), in the
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...
of
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...
. In modern retellings it is sometimes used as the name of an order of warriors, the Red Branch Knights.
The names of two of Conchobar's houses can be translated as "Red Branch", as
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
had two words for "red": ''derg'', bright red, the colour of fresh blood, flame or gold; and ''ruad'', russet, used for the colour of red hair. The ''Cróeb Ruad'' (modern Irish ''Craobh Rua'', "russet branch") was where the king sat;
[Whitley Stokes (ed. & trans.), "Tidings of Conchobar mac Nessa", '']Ériu
In Irish mythology, Ériu (; modern ga, Éire ), daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland.
The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic languages, Germani ...
'' 4, 1910, pp. 18-38 its name has survived as the
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...
of
Creeveroe
Creeveroe () is a townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is about three-and-a-half miles west of Armagh, and is situated within the civil parish of Eglish. The townland derives its name from the Irish ''an Chraobh Rua'', referring to th ...
in
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
. The ''Cróeb Derg'' (modern Irish ''Craobh Dearg'', "blood red branch") was where severed heads and other trophies of battle were kept. His third house was called the ''Téite Brec'' or "speckled hoard", where the heroes' weapons were stored.
Modern usage
*The name ''Red Branch Knights'' was used by a
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
paramilitary group from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in September 1992 to claim responsibility for
incendiary devices and a
blast bomb
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...
left in a
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
-based bank in
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...
. Statements were sent to the media threatening action against anyone with political or economic links with the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
. They are not known to have been responsible for any casualties during
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
.
*A Belfast Celtic group also goes by the name ''Craobh Rua''.
*The name "Knights of the Red Branch" was also used by an Irish Catholic fraternal organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and San Francisco, California in the 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. The society was originally a patriotic and military organization in Ireland but functioned as a fraternal and beneficial society in America in the early 20th Century.
[Philadelphia Inquirer Oct. 27, 1909]
Notes
{{Irish mythology (Ulster)
Ulster Cycle