Conchobar Mac/Catbad
There are several versions of how Conchobar was conceived. In the earliest, Ness, daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide, the then king of Ulster, asks the druid Cathbad what it is an auspicious time for. Cathbad replies, “for begetting a king on a queen”. There are no other men around, so Ness takes Cathbad to bed and she conceives a son.[2] In a later version, Ness is brought up by twelve foster-fathers, and while all twelve are at a feast, Cathbad, leading a fian or landless war-band, attacks the house and kills them all. Eochaid is unable to avenge them as the culprit cannot be identified, so Ness forms her own fian to hunt Cathbad down. But while she is bathing alone in a pool, Cathbad appears, stands between her and her weapons, and bares his sword. He spares her life on the condition that she becomes his wife. They settle near a river called Conchobar, and Ness soon conceives a son, but in this version the father is the High King Fachtna Fáthach, who is Ness’s lover. As she and Cathbad set out to visit Fachtna, Ness goes into labour. Cathbad tells her if she can manage not to give birth until the following day, her son will be a great king and have everlasting fame, for he will be born on the same day as Jesus Christ. Ness sits on a flagstone by the river Conchobar, and the following morning gives birth. The baby falls into the river, but Cathbad lifts him out, names him Conchobar after the river, and brings him up as his own son.[3]
Conchobar becomes king
By the time Conchobar is seven, Fergus mac Róich is king of Ulster, and falls in love with Ness. She agrees to become his wife, on one condition: that Fergus allows Conchobar to be king for a year, so his children will be called the sons of a king (under Medieval Irish lawinheritance passed through the male line, and only those who had a king as a male-line ancestor were eligible for kingship).[4] The nobles of Ulster advise Fergus that this will not affect his standing with them, as the boy will be king in name only, so he agrees. But Conchobar, advised by his mother, rules so well that by the end of the year it’s decided he should be king permanently.[5] Fergus makes an alliance with the new High King, Eochu Feidlech, and they make war on Ulster. After a series of bloody battles, Conchobar makes overtures for peace. Fergus is offered land, the Champion’s Portion at Emain Macha, and the position of Conchobar’s heir. Conchobar demands compensation from Eochu for the killing of his father, Fachtna Fáthach, and is granted land, status and the High King’s daughter in marriage.[6]
Marriages and family
Conchobar marries several of Eochu’s daughters. Medb, later queen of Connacht, is the first. She bears him a son called Amalgad, but soon leaves him.
Her sister Eithne conceives a son by him, but Medb murders her by drowning her in a stream. Her son Furbaide is delivered by posthumous Caesarian section.
Mugain bears him a son called Glaisne and remains his chief wife.
The mother of Conchobar’s eldest son, Cormac Cond Longas, is either Eochu’s daughter Clothru or Conchobar’s own mother Ness.[7] Cormac is given to Fergus mac Róich to foster.
His other sons include Cúscraid Mend Macha and Folloman. His daughter Fedelm Noíchrothach marries Cairbre Nia Fer, King of Tara, and they have a son, Erc, and a daughter, Achall.
Conchobar has two sisters, Findchóem [8] and Deichtine.[9] Findchóem marries the poet fAmergin, and they have a son, Conall Cernach. Deichtine is the mother of Cú Chulainn, by either her mortal husband Sualtam or the god Lugh.[10]
Deirdre
When Conchobar is visiting the house of his storyteller Fedlimid mac Daill, Fedlimid’s wife gives birth to a daughter. Cathbad, now Conchobar’s chief druid, prophesies that she will be so beautiful that kings will go to war over her, and she will bring nothing but sorrow. The child is named Deirdre, and Conchobar decides to have her brought up in seclusion from men, intending to marry her when she comes of age. However, she elopes with a young warrior called Naoise. Along with Naoise’s two brothers, the couple go into hiding, and are eventually forced to flee to Scotland. Wherever they settle, the local king tries to have the brothers killed so he can have Deirdre for himself, and they have to move on. Eventually Conchobar tracks them down to a remote island, and sends Fergus to them with his guarantee of safe passage home. On the way home he arranges for Fergus to be separated from his charges by having him invited to a feast, so they are escorted back to Emain Macha by Fergus’s son Fiachu. When they arrive, Fiachu, Naoise and his brothers are murdered on Conchobar’s orders by Éogan mac Durthacht, and Deirdre is forced to marry Conchobar.
Fergus, outraged by the death of his son and the betrayal of his honour, makes war against Conchobar, alongside Cormac Cond Longas, who sides with his foster-father against his father, and Dubthach Dóeltenga. They burn Emain and slaughter the maidens of Ulster, before going into exile with Medb and her husband Ailill in Connacht.
Deirdre lives with Conchobar for a year, but during that time she never smiles, rarely eats or sleeps, and refuses to be comforted. Conchobar asks her what it is she hates, and she replies, “you, and Éogan mac Durthacht.” Conchobar gives her to Éogan. The next day, riding in Éogan’s chariot, she commits suicide by dashing her head against a stone.[11]
The Cattle Raid of Cooley
When Medb raises an army from four of the five provinces of Ireland and launches an invasion of Ulster to steal the bull Donn Cúailnge in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Conchobar, like all the Ulstermen but Cú Chulainn, is unable to fight, disabled by the curse of Macha. Cú Chulainn fights a series of single combats against Connacht champions, hoping to give the Ulstermen time to recover and take the field.
Eventually Cú Chulainn’s father, Sualtam, comes to Conchobar at Emain Macha to warn him of the devastation the Connacht army is creating and demand he raise his army before it’s too late. Conchobar and his druids agree that Sualtam should be put to death for breaking the protocol of the court – no-one is permitted to speak before Conchobar but the druids – and Sualtam runs out, but falls and decapitates himself on the sharpened edge of his shield. His severed head is brought back in on his shield, still crying out his warning. Conchobar raises his army and leads them into battle. During the fighting, Fergus has him at his mercy, but Cormac Cond Longas prevents his foster-father from killing his biological father, and Fergus strikes off the top of three hills instead. Medb is eventually forced to retreat by Cú Chulainn, but manages to bring the bull back to Connacht, where it fights her husband Ailill’s bull Finnbhennach, kills it, and dies of exhaustion.[12]
The Battle of Ros na Ríg
After the Táin, Conchobar falls ill, and doesn’t eat or sleep. The Ulaid ask Cathbad to find out what’s wrong with their king. Conchobar tells Cathbad that he is ill because the other four provinces of Ireland have made war against him with impunity. Although he was victorious against Ailill and Medb, neither of them was killed in the battle, and he still lost his bull. He wants to make war against Connacht, but it is now winter, so Cathbad advises him to wait until summer when his men and horses will be fresh and energetic, and in the meantime, call on all his foreign allies to bring reinforcements. He sends word to Conall Cernach, who is raising tribute in the Scottish islands, and he raises a great fleet of the Ulaid’s allies in Scandinavia and the Faroe Islands and brings them home to Ulster.
In response to this build-up, the other provinces mobilise. Eochu mac Luchta, king of Munster, convinces Ailill and Medb, very much against Medb’s better judgement, to offer reparations to Conchobar. Ailill sends a man the Ulaid have reason to mistrust as their envoy to make the offer. Conchobar rejects the offer, and says he will not be satisfied until he is able to pitch his tent anywhere in Ireland. When asked where he wants to pitch his tent that night, he selects Ros na Ríg (Rosnaree) on the River Boyne. A battle ensues at Ros na Ríg between the Ulaid on one side, and on the other side the kingdom of Meath, led by Conchobar’s son-in-law Cairpre Nia Fer, king of Tara, and the Gailióin of Leinster, led by their king Find mac Rossa. The battle goes badly for the Ulaid until Conall Cernach joins the fray, because the wavering Ulstermen are too scared of him to retreat. Conall kills a thousand men in the battle. Cairpre Nia Fer kills 800 before Cú Chulainn kills him with a spear thrown from a distance, and then beheads him before his body hits the ground. The Gailióin retreat and the Ulaid take Tara. Erc, Cairpre’s son and Conchobar’s grandson, is installed as the new king of Tara. He swears allegiance to Conchobar and is given Cú Chulainn’s daughter Fínscoth in marriage.[13]
Death
Conchobar is eventually killed as a result of a wound inflicted by the Connacht warrior Cet mac Mágach. Cet had stolen one of Ulster’s trophies of battle, the petrified brain of Mesgegra, king of Leinster, and shoots it from his sling so it embeds itself in Conchobar’s head; this is supposed to have taken place at Baile Ath in Urchair, (Ardnurcher).[14] Conchobor’s physicians are unable to remove it, but sew up the wound and tell the king he will survive so long as he doesn’t get excited or over-exert himself. Seven reasonably peaceful years later, Conchobar is told of the death of Christ, and becomes so angry that the brain bursts from his head, and he dies. The blood from the wound baptises him as a Christian, and his soul goes to heaven.[15] While this account of his death has been superficially Christianised, it also bears strong resemblances to the Scandinavian myth of Thor’s fight against Hrungnir, suggesting either a common origin of the two episodes or a later borrowing during the era of Viking influence in Ireland.
The Ulstermen invite his son Cormac Cond Longas, still in exile in Connacht, to succeed him as king, but on his way to Emain Macha Cormac is forced to break his geasa or taboos, and is killed in battle at Da Choca’s Hostel.[16] On Conall Cernach’s recommendation the kingship is then given to Conchobar’s other son, Cúscraid Mend Macha.[17]
The mysterious Cathbad was the Druid to King Conor MacNessa of Ulster who served not only as his advisor but also eventually as a means of checking the excessive use of power by the King.
The word Druid can mean ‘oak knower’ or ‘oak seer’ and Druids were often seen as members of an exclusive occupational class, and also as sorcerers. It is generally accepted that the Druid was a type of intermediary, a conduit to the Otherworld.
The centre of a Druidic ritual was in a sacred place located close to trees. The favorite trees of the Druids were the Oak trees and the Rowan trees and it was on wattles of this tree that a Druid would sleep to gain prophetic visions from their dreams.
A Druid’s opinion was always sought on matters of law and tradition. They could identify wrong-doers, interpret dreams, cure illnesses and give shrewd military advice. While the Druid was believed to possess mystical powers they should not be confused with ‘the bard’ who was more often a leading figure such as a poet whose verse was believed to have magical connotations. The teachings of the Druid were based on the five elements: earth, sea, sky, sun and moon.
Cathbad held the highest office at the Court of King Conor MacNessa. As was the tradition at the time no one was permitted to speak before the King, but even the King himself waited to hear first from Cathbad!
Cathbad’s prophecies are pivotal in many of the stories of that ancient time such as the occasion when Cuchulainn took up arms after Cathbad predicted that anyone to do so for the first time on that day would live a memorable, albeit short life. Immediately the boy hero Cuchulainn took up arms and slay three champions who had long dominated Ulster, instantly becoming a hero.
It was also Cathbad’s prophecy about Deirdre of the Sorrows that sets in motion her tragic tale.
When Deirdre was born, Cathbad was able to see from the cry she gave when she was still in the womb that she would bring death and destruction after her. Conor MacNessa tried to avert this prophecy, but his pride and jealousy was so great that he could not let Deirdre go, as a grown woman, to be with the man she loved, Naoise. After luring Deirdre and the sons of Ushnu back to Ulster under a false promise of peace, the King enlisted Cathbad’s help in subduing the fearsome brothers.
Cathbad agreed to help, only on condition that Conor not kill the sons of Ushnu. Cathbad surrounded the warriors with a spell that made them feel as if they were enveloped by water. They had to swim until their arms were so tired that they dropped their weapons. The King then seized his chance and had the brothers executed, keeping the letter of his promise by having someone else actually despatch them from the mortal realm.
Cathbad was furious at the King’s misuse of his powers and put a curse on Conor MacNessa: that his line would end with him, and he would have no descendants after him. This was a terrible curse in a culture that prized a person’s legacy and lineage.
King Conor MacNessa was proud though and thought himself safe, having many sons. But he underestimated the power of the Druid’s curse and over the course of his life, one by one, all his sons died, and by the time he was an old man only the exile Cormac Cond Longas still survived, living in Connaught. The King asked Cormac to come back to Ulster to succeed him. Cormac agreed and set out on his journey to meet his father, only for a deadly accident to befall him on the way, fulfilling Cathbad’s curse.
Other legends of Cathbad have it that the Druid Cathbad was in fact the father of King Conor MacNessa, making the curse he placed upon him even more sinister. It is told that the Princess Nessa had consulted with Cathbad, enquiring of him what that particular day would be suited to. He answered:
‘This day is auspicious for begetting a King upon a Queen!’
His meaning was clear and he lay with Nessa begetting the son Conchobar, later known as Conor, who would become the King of all Ulster.
Cathbad is the quintessential Druid of Irish mythology. The relationship between the King and Druid was of extreme importance, for it determined the fortune of the King and that of his people.
If there was a good King there was seen to be good corn and meat and therefore prosperity for the people. Thus the Druid represents the child of wisdom, born of the male sun representing the cult of the King with mother earth symbolized by the female Goddess. Despite possessing great knowledge, a Druid also held great power. Not only did Druids serve a high king, but they also curtailed the power of that ruler.
This was especially true in the tales of Cathbad and King Conor MacNessa with some tellings having it that Cathbad cursed his very own son, thus ending the line of Conor MacNessa, the great King of Ulster.
HOW CONACHAR GAINED THE KINGSHIP OVER ULSTER
Now, while Conachar was still a lad, his mother Ness being then a widow, and still beautiful, Fergus mac Roich, who was king of Ulster at that time, desired to make her his wife. ‘ Give me then my conditions,’ said she ; ‘ namely, that for one year my son reign over Ulster, in order that his posterity may be called the descendants of a king.’ And the officers of the kingdom advised Fergus to agree to this, and to resign the king[1]dom for one year into the hands of Conachar. Now when Nessa had gained her point, she set to work so to instruct her son that he should win over to himself the most influential of the nobles and the chiefs of the province. She supplied him with wealth, which was distributed secretly among the people, and in such wise did he win over the Ultonians that the year’s end, when Fergus demanded back the sovereignty, the chiefs refused to allow Conachar to part with it, alleging that Fergus having consented to barter the kingdom as a dowry to his wife, had, in fact, actually resigned it. And they held that to Fergus should be left only what he already possessed, namely, his wife ; and that Conachar should retain the sovereignty of Ulster. Now this was the appearance of the king, of Conachar,
HOW CONACHAR GAINED THE son of Fachtna fathach, the famous, worthy king of Ulad, the full-eyed, royal, gigantic warrior. ‘ Compar[1]able to a moon in its great fifteenth was his countenance, his visage, and his face. His beard was forked, fair, and pointed ; his bushy, reddish-yellow hair was looped to the slope of his poll {culad). A purple-bordered garment encircled him, a pin of wrought gold fastening the garment over his shoulder. Next to the surface of his skin was a shirt of kingly satin. A purple-brown shield, with rims of yellow gold, was beside him. He had a gold-hilted, embossed sword ; in his white firm right hand he held a purple-bright, well-shaped spear, accompanied by its forked dart’ ^ On earth was there not a man wiser, nor stronger, nor more champion-like than he. And in his reign the province was a fountain of desire and of wealth, so that there was not a residence waste or empty, from the one end of the province to the other, without a tenant, serving his hereditary lord. And in the king’s house at Emain Macha was great state kept up ; moreover, on his accession the king had promulgated a law that every champion should for one night entertain Ulster, and the king seven nights or four nights, so that each of the chiefs in turn practised hospitality towards the king and the nobles of Ulster. And the kingdom prospered, and in his time was peace and fatness, wise laws and promulgation of justice, and great deeds of championship by Cuchullin and the Heroes of the Red Branch. But Fergus did not willingly submit to his exclusion from the sovereignty ; he gathered a great army and swore to be avenged on Conachar ; but ultimately he ‘ This description is taken from the tale known as Mesca Ulad, p. 29, R.I. A. Todd Lecture Series.
KINGSHIP OVER ULSTER ii was defeated and driven into Connacht. And there he dwelled a long time in the courts of Ailell and of Meave, king and queen of Connacht ; and there existed long war and hostility between the men of Connacht and the men of Ulster, until Meave stirred up all Erin against Conachar in the great Cattle spoil of Ulster which is called the Tdin b6 Cuailgne. Fergus, although he was greatly embittered against Ulster and against the king on account of the breach of compact and on account of the illegal seizure of the sovereignty, as also for the matter of the children of Usnach’s exile, yet found it hard to be severed from his own people, and he thought it not well to lead the forces of Meave against the Ultonians, as will be seen in the Tdin.^ Now the description of Fergus is this : he was of high stature, and his strength was as that of seven hundred men ; seven hogs and seven vats and seven kine he used to consume ; and his sword would stretch to the length of a rainbow when he wielded it.
THE BIRTH OF CONACHAR
CONACHARi MAC Nessa was the son of Cathbad the Druid, or, as some say, of Fachtna fathach, king of Ulster. He was a great and admirable king, and well indeed he might be, for the hour of his birth was the hour of the birth of Christ in Palestine. For seven years before his birth had the prophets foretold that on the same night that Christ should be born, a notable chief should be born in Erin. And this is the prophecy of his father, of Cathbad, on the night dp which he was born, to Nessa his wife : — O Ness, thou art in peril ; Let every one rise at thy birth-giving, Beautiful is the colour of thy hands, O daughter of Echaid buide. Be not sorrowful, O wife, A head of hundreds and of hosts Of the world will he be, thy son. ‘ We have usually adopted the Scottish form of the name, in prefer- ence to the Irish form, Conchobhar or Conchubhar, as suggesting the pronunciation to the English reader. The modern Anglicised form, Conor or Connor, accords ill with Ihe antique tone of the tales.
3 4 THE CUCHULLIN SAGA
The same propitious hour To him and to the King of the World. Every one will praise him For ever to the day of Doom ; The same night he will be born. Heroes will not defy him, As hostage he will not be taken, He and Christ. In the plain of Inis thou wilt bear him Upon the flagstone in the meadow. Glorious will be his story ; He will be the king of grace. He will be the hound of Ulster, Who will take pledges of knights : Awful will be the disgrace When he falls. Conachar his name Whoso will call him. His weapons will be red ; He will excel in many routs. There he will find his death, [Even] in avenging the suffering God. Clear will be the track of his sword Over the slanting plain of Laim.’ Conachar was called from the name of his mother, mac Nessa. But her name in the beginning had been Assa, ‘docile’ or ‘gentle,’ and it was on this manner that it was changed to Niassa, ‘ungentle.’ She was daughter of Echaid Yellow-heel, king of Ulster, and by his desire she had been trained up by twelve tutors, to whom she was ever docile and full of teachableness. ^ See ‘The Conception of Conachar,’ translated by Prof, Kuno Meyer, from Stowe MS., No. 992. Rev. Celt., vol. vi. pp. 173-182.
THE BIRTH OF CONACHAR
But in one night the entire number of her tutors fell by the hand of Cathbad the Druid, who from the southern part of Ulster went on a martial expedition through Erin with three times nine men. He was a man of know[1]ledge and of druidical skill ; moreover, he was endowed with great bodily strength. Now the girl had no know[1]ledge who they were who had slain her guardians, but from that moment she turned woman-warrior, and with her company set out to seek the author of the deed. In every district of Erin she destroyed and plundered, so that her name was changed to Niassa (Nessa) after that, because of the greatness of her prowess and of her valour. Once upon a time, she had gone upon a quest into a wilderness, and her people were preparing food. And seeing a clear beautiful spring of water, the maiden went off alone to bathe. Now while she was bathing Cathbad passed by and saw her. And he bared his sword above her head, and stood between the maiden and her dress and weapons. ‘ Spare me ! ‘ she cried. ‘Grant then my three requests,’ replied the Druid. ‘ They are granted,’ she said. ‘ I stipulate that thou be loyal to me, and that I have thy friendship, and that for so long as I live thou wilt be my one only wife,’ said he. ‘ It is better for me to consent than to be killed by thee, and my weapon ‘s gone,’ said the maiden. Then they and their people unite in one place. In a favourable hour, Cathbad proceeded into Ulster, and the father of the maiden made them welcome and gave them land, namely. Rath Cathbad in the country of the Picts near the river Conachar in Crith Rois. By[1]and-by she bore him a son, namely Conachar mac.
Cathbad took the boy to his bosom, and gave thanks for him and prophesied to him ; and it was then that he uttered this lay : Welcome the stranger that has come here ! They have told it to you He will be the gracious lord The son of gentle Cathbad. The son of gentle Cathbad, And of Ness the young Above the fortress of Brig na m-Brat My son and my grandson. My son and my grandson, Grand ornament of the world. He will be King of Rath Line, He will be a poet, he will be generous. He will be a poet, he will be generous. He will be the head of warriors beyond the sea.