Medb

Medb married Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster. The marriage failed, and Medb left him. She later became queen of Connacht and married Ailill. Fergus mac Róich, formerly king of Ulster, joined her household as her lover. He remained hostile to Conchobar, who had taken his throne and retained control of Ulster after Fergus tried to recover it.

Conchobar gained the kingship after his mother, Nessa, arranged for him to rule in Fergus’s place. She agreed to marry Fergus on the condition that Conchobar would hold the throne for one year, giving his children royal descent. When the year ended, Nessa worked with the nobles to prevent Fergus from returning. Fergus went south and gathered allies, but Conchobar resisted him. They later made peace, although Conchobar’s continued treachery made Fergus his enemy.

Medb planned a cattle raid against Conchobar’s territory. Before the army left Cruachan, she asked the seeress Fedelm whether she could see the future. Fedelm said that she could. When Medb asked about the outcome, Fedelm said that she saw crimson and red. Medb dismissed the warning, saying that Fedelm had seen only the warriors’ anger. She continued with the plan.

The army set out soon after Samhain, when cattle raids were not usually expected. Ailill went with Medb, and Fergus supported her because of his hostility towards Conchobar. They expected to cross undefended land and succeed in the raid. The expedition brought Medb into open conflict with the king she had once married.

Fergus mac Róich took his warriors west to Queen Medb’s court at Cruachan. He had once been king of Ulster. After marrying Nessa, he agreed that her son, Conchobar mac Nessa, would rule for one year. When the year ended, Nessa and the nobles prevented Fergus from returning to the throne. Fergus gathered allies at Tara, but Conchobar kept control of Ulster. They later made peace, although Conchobar’s continuing treachery turned Fergus against him.

Fergus joined Medb at Cruachan and became her lover. The two were well matched in their sexual appetite. Medb was married to Ailill, who tolerated the affair. She said that she had chosen Ailill for his generosity, bravery and freedom from jealousy. The relationship gave Fergus a place in Connacht and gave Medb a powerful ally against Ulster.

After Medb and Ailill compared their possessions, Medb’s pillow-talk helped set the cattle raid against Ulster in motion. Fergus joined the expedition because he still resented Conchobar for taking his throne and manipulating him into causing the deaths of the sons of Uisneach. The army left Cruachan after Samhain and expected little resistance as it crossed the land. The seeress Fedelm warned Medb that she saw blood and slaughter, but Medb ignored her.

During the raid, Fergus led the Connacht forces and killed hundreds of his former countrymen with his great sword, Caladbolg. He would also have killed Conchobar, but Conchobar’s son stopped him. In one account of the army’s movements, Medb divided the forces at Finnabair and travelled with Fergus by way of Bernas Bó Ulad. Ailill took the other half along the Midluachair road. Some accounts say that Fergus fathered a son named Ciar with Medb. His name was later connected with County Kerry.

Medb sent Mac Roth to seek a bull equal to Ailill’s white bull, Finnbennach. Finnbennach had once belonged to Medb, but refused to remain under a woman’s authority and entered Ailill’s herd. Mac Roth told her about Donn Cuailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley, which lived in Ulster, at the house of Dáire mac Fiachna.

Medb sent Mac Roth to ask Dáire for Donn Cuailnge for one year. She offered fifty yearling heifers and promised to return the bull at the end of the term. Dáire agreed at first. He then overheard Medb’s warriors boasting that they would take Donn Cuailnge even if he refused to lend him. Angered by this, Dáire withdrew his consent.

Medb gathered the armies of Connacht and its allies and marched into Ulster to seize the bull. She knew that the men of Ulster were suffering from a curse laid upon them by the goddess Macha. During her pregnancy, the men of Ulster had abused Macha. She punished them with a debility that left them unable to defend their province.

The raid became a war between Medb’s forces and Ulster. Cú Chulainn defended Ulster while Medb’s armies pursued Donn Cuailnge. The two bulls were said to be the reincarnations of Friuch and Rucht, former enemies who had fought in many forms after their deaths. Their enmity continued through the bulls, and Donn Cuailnge’s presence brought the conflict to its appointed end.

At Oweynagat, Medb was born. She was a daughter of Eochaid Feidlech, the high king of Ireland. His lineage ran through Finn, Finnoman, Finnen, Finngoll, Roth, Rigéon, Blathacht, Beothacht, Enna Agnech and Aengus Turbech. Eochaid had six daughters, including Derbriu and Ethne. Medb was the most celebrated of them and was known for giving favours generously.

Her father gave her a province of Ireland to rule from Cruachan. She commanded fifteen hundred royal mercenaries and the same number of freeborn native men as her household guard. Men came from across Ireland to seek her in marriage, but she rejected them. She later reigned as queen of Connacht from Cruachan with great force and power.

When Ailill said that she had become wealthier after marrying him, Medb answered that she had been well provided for before their marriage. She said that her wealth and authority had come from her own position, not from him. At Cruachan, she remained a queen in her own right.

In one telling, Medb was a goddess of the land. Her marriage to a king gave him sovereignty over her territory and bound him by sacred vows. Her name meant mead or intoxication, and she was linked with the danger and intoxication of kingship.