Crimthann Nia Náir (nephew of Nár), son of
Lugaid Riab nDerg
Lugaid Riab nDerg ("the red-striped") or Réoderg ("Red Sky"), son of the three '' findemna'', triplet sons of Eochu Feidlech, and their sister Clothru was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland.
C ...
, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a
High King of Ireland. Lugaid is said to have fathered him on his own mother,
Clothru, daughter of
Eochu Feidlech
Eochu or Eochaid Feidlech ("the enduring"), was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legends and historical traditions. He is best known as the father of the legendary queen Medb of Connacht.
Family
Eochu was son of Finn, son of ...
. Clothru was thus both his mother and his grandmother.
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 he overthrew the High King
Conchobar Abradruad, but does not say he became High King himself - Conchobar was succeeded by
Cairbre Cinnchait.
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''
['' Annals of the Four Masters']
M5192
/ref> agree that Crimthann succeeded Conchobar as High King and ruled for sixteen years. He is said to have gone on a voyage with his aunt Nár, a fairy woman, for a month and a fortnight, and returned with treasures including a gilded chariot, a golden '' fidchell'' board, a gold-embroidered cloak, a sword inlaid with gold serpents, a silver-embossed shield, a spear and a sling which never missed their mark, and two greyhounds with a silver chain between them. Soon after he returned he fell from his horse and died at Howth. Keating says he was succeeded by his son Feradach Finnfechtnach, the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' by Cairbre Cinnchait.
The ''Lebor Gabála'' places him in the reign of the Roman emperor Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
(AD 69–79). The chronology of Keating's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates his reign to 12 BC – AD 5, that of the '' Annals of the Four Masters'' to 8 BC – AD 9.
References
Legendary High Kings of Ireland
1st-century BC legendary rulers
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