Furbaide Ferbend is a character from 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 ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...

. Legend has it that Furbaide Ferbend was buried in a

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...

atop

Carn Clonhugh Corn Hill, also called Cairn Hill or Carn Clonhugh ( ga, Carn Clainne Aodha or '), is a hill in County Longford, Republic of Ireland. It lies north of Longford, between Drumlish and Ballinalee, in the parish of Killoe. At 278 metres abo ...

, more commonly known as Corn Hill or Cairn Hill, north

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the mee ...

, after the two passage graves that crown the summit.

Life

His father is

Conchobar mac Nessa Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of 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 Fachtna Fáthach, although in some stories hi ...

, king of the

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and in ...

. His mother is one of the daughters of Eochu Feidlech, the

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned an ...

: in the saga ''Cath Boinde'' ("the battle of the Boyne) Joseph O'Neill, (ed. & trans.
"Cath Boinde"
''

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 (Old Norse or Ol ...

v.2, 1905, pp.173-185 and the '' Dindsenchas'' poem "Carn Furbaide"Edward Gwynn (ed. & trans.)
"Carn Furbaide"
''The Metrical Dindshenchas'' Vol. 4, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1906 she is Eithne, in the saga ''Aided Meidbe'' ("the death of Medb") she is

Clothru Clothru was, according to medieval Irish legend, the daughter of Eochu Feidlech, a High King of Ireland, and the sister of queen Medb of Connacht and Ethniu. When her triplet brothers, the findemna, were fighting with their father Eochu Feidlech ...

.Vernam Hull (ed. & trans.)
"Aided Meidbe: The Violent Death of Medb"
''Speculum'' v.13 issue 1, Jan. 1938, pp. 52-61 Eochu gave several of his daughters to Conchobar in marriage in compensation for Conchobar's supposed father, the former High King

Fachtna Fáthach Fachtna Fáthach ("the wise"), son of Cas (or Ross), son of Rudraige, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He came to power when he defeated the previous High King, Dui Dallta Dedad, in the bat ...

, whom Eochu had killed in the Battle of Leitir Ruad. In the sagas Furbaide's mother is murdered by her sister

Medb Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méibh () and Méabh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had sev ...

, Conchobar's former wife and the future queen of

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and ...

, in the poem by her nephew Lugaid Riab nDerg, and her child is born by posthumous

Caesarian section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or ...

. ''Cath Boinde'' explains the name ''Furbaide'' as deriving from

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 writte ...

''urbad'', "cutting", and says his original name was Diarmaid. According to the ''Dindsenchas'' Furbaide is described as smooth-skinned and bright of hue with two horns growing on his head, hence his epithet ''ferbend'', "horned man". The glossary ''Cóir Anmann'' ("fitness of names") says the horns – two of silver and one of gold – were on his helmet.Whitley Stokes
"Cóir Anmann (Fitness of Names)"
''Irische Text mit Wörterbuch'', Dritte Serie, 2 Heft, Leipzig: Verlag Von S. Hirzel, 1897, p. 288-411 At the age of seventeen he fights in Conchobar's army in the Battle of Gáirech and Ilgáirech at the end of the ''

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...

'' ("cattle raid of

Cooley Cooley may refer to: * Cooley (surname), a surname (and a list of people with the surname) * Cooley Distillery, an Irish whiskey distillery *Cooley LLP, a Silicon Valley-based law firm *Cooley Peninsula, Ireland *Cooley High School, Detroit, Michiga ...

").Cecile O'Rahilly, ''Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976, pp. 218, 227-228Cecile O'Rahilly (ed. & trans.), ''Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of Leinster'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1967, p. 248, 261 In the saga ''Mesca Ulad'' ("the intoxication of the Ulaid"), where he is said to be Cúchulainn's foster-son, he fights against the Erna, but he is so beautiful none of them can bring themselves to wound him.W. M. Hennessy (ed & trans), '' Mesca Ulad; or, the intoxication of the Ultonians'', Todd Lecture Series, 1889 After Conchobar's death his son Cúscraid Mend Macha succeeds him as king of the Ulaid, and gives his brother Furbaide the regions of northern and southern Tethbae.R. I. Best (ed. & trans.),
"The Battle of Airtech"
''Ériu 8'', 1916, pp. 170-190 In later life, according to ''Aided Meidbe'', he avenges his mother's death. Medb had taken to bathing in a pool on the Shannon island of

Inchcleraun Inchcleraun (), also called Quaker Island, is an island situated in Lough Ree on the River Shannon, in central Ireland. The island is home to the ruins of St. Diarmaid's Monastery, a monastery founded by Diarmaid the Just in AD 560. These buil ...

. Furbaide measures the distance from the pool to the shore with a rope, and practices with his sling until he can hit an apple on top of a stake from that distance. The next time he sees Medb bathing, he shoots the nearest missile to hand – a piece of cheese – at her, and kills her. In the ''Dindsenchas'' poem he kills the mother of Lugaid Riab nDerg, and Lugaid pursues and kills him in revenge.

References

Primary references

Secondary references

* {{refend Ulster Cycle

Life

See also

References

Primary references

Secondary references