Cormac mac Airt

This article is about the king. For The Robert E. Howard character, seeTigers of the Sea.

Cormac mac Airt
Born	Ireland
Died	Ireland
Cause of death	Choking
Occupation	LegendaryHigh King of Ireland

Cormac macAirt,also known asCormac ua Cuinn(grandson ofConn) orCormac Ulfada(long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, aHigh King of Ireland.He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings, and may have been an authentic historical figure, although manylegendshave attached themselves to him, and his reign is variously dated as early as the 2nd century and as late as the 4th. He is said to have ruled fromTara,the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, for forty years, and under his rule, Tara flourished. He is credited for building many of the monuments at theHill of Tarasuch as the Banqueting Hall, Cormac's house, andGráinne's Enclosure, named after his daughter.He was famous for his wise, true, and generous judgments. In the Annals ofClonmacnoise,translated in 1627, he is described as:

"absolutely the best king that ever reigned in Ireland before himself...wise learned, valiant and mild, not given causelessly to be bloody as many of his ancestors were, he reigned majestically and magnificently".

The heroFionn mac Cumhaillis supposed to have lived in Cormac's time, and most of the stories of theFenian Cycleare set during his reign.

Birth and childhood

Cormac's father was the former High KingArt mac Cuinn.His mother wasAchtan,daughter of Olc Acha, a smith (ordruid) fromConnacht.Cormac had a younger brother, Alastir.

According to the saga "The Battle of Mag Mucrama", Olc gave Art hospitality the night before theBattle of Maigh Mucruimhe.It had been prophesied that a great dignity would come from Olc's line, so he offered the High King his daughter to sleep with that night, and Cormac was conceived(Geoffrey Keatingsays that Achtan was Art's official mistress, to whom he had given a dowry of cattle).

The story is told that Achtan had a vision as she slept next to Art. She saw herself with her head cut off and a great tree growing out of her neck. Its branches spread all over Ireland, until the sea rose and overwhelmed it. Another tree grew from the roots of the first, but the wind blew it down. At that, she woke up and told Art what she had seen. Art explained that the head of every woman is her husband, and that she would lose her husband in battle the next day. The first tree was their son, who would be king over all Ireland, and the sea that overwhelmed it was a fishbone that he would die choking on. The second tree was his son,Cairbre Lifechair,who would be king after him, and the wind that blew him down was a battle against thefianna,in which he would fall. The following day Art was defeated and killed by his nephewLugaid mac Con,who became the new High King.

Cormac was carried off in infancy by a she-wolf and reared with her cubs in the caves of Kesh (Keash, Co Sligo), but a hunter found him and brought him back to his mother. Achtan then took him to Fiachrae Cassán, who had been Art's foster father. On the way, they were attacked by wolves, but wild horses protected them.

Rise to power

At the age of thirty, armed with his father's sword, Cormac came toTara,where he met a steward consoling a weeping woman. The steward explained that the High King had confiscated her sheep because they had cropped the queen's woad garden. Cormac declared, "More fitting would be one shearing for another," because both the woad and the sheep's fleeces would grow again. When Lugaid heard this, he conceded that Cormac's judgement was superior to his and abdicated the throne.Other traditions say that Cormac drove Lugaid out by force,or that he left Tara because hisdruidshad prophesied he would not live another six months if he stayed.In all versions he went to his kin inMunster,where the poet Ferches mac Commain killed him with a spear as he stood with his back to a standing stone.

But Cormac was unable to claim the High Kingship, as the king of theUlaid,Fergus Dubdétach,drove him into Connacht, and took the throne himself. He turned toTadg mac Céin,a local nobleman whose father had been killed by Fergus, promising him as much land on the plain ofBregaas he could drive his chariot round in a day if he would help him claim the throne. Tadg advised him to recruit his grandfather's brother Lugaid Láma. Cormac sought him out, and when he found him lying in a hunting booth, wounded him in the back with a spear. Lugaid revealed that it had been he who had killed Cormac's father in the Battle of Maigh Mucruimhe, and Cormac demanded, aséraicfor Art's life, that Lugaid give him Fergus' head.

Having recruited Tadg and Lugaid, Cormac marched against Fergus, and The Battle of Crinna began. Tadg led the battle, keeping Cormac out of the action at the rear. Lugaid took the head of Fergus' brother, Fergus Foltlebair, and brought it to Cormac's attendant, who told him this was not the head of the king of Ulster. He then took the head of Fergus's other brother, Fergus Caisfhiachlach, but again the attendant told him it was the wrong head. Finally, he killed Fergus Dubdétach himself, and when the attendant confirmed he'd got the right man, Lugaid killed him and collapsed from exhaustion and loss of blood.

Tadg routed Fergus's army, and ordered his charioteer to make a circuit of the plain of Brega to include Tara itself. He was severely wounded, and fainted during the circuit. When he came to, he asked the charioteer if he had driven around Tara yet. When the charioteer answered no, Tadg killed him, but before he could complete the circuit himself, Cormac came upon him and ordered physicians to treat his wounds - treatment which took a whole year. Cormac took the throne, and Tadg ruled large tracts of land in the northern half of Ireland.

Family

According to the saga "The Melody of the House of Buchet",Cormac married Eithne Táebfada, daughter ofCathaír Mórand foster-daughter of Buchet, a wealthy cattle-lord fromLeinsterwhose hospitality was so exploited that he was reduced to poverty. However, in other traditions, Eithne is the wife of Cormac's grandfatherConn Cétchathach.Keatingsays the foster daughter of Buchet that Cormac married was another Eithne, Eithne Ollamda, daughter of Dúnlaing, king ofLeinster.Also according to Keating, Cormac took a second wife, Ciarnait, daughter of the king of theCruthin,but Eithne, out of jealousy of her beauty, forced her to grind nine measures of grain every day. Cormac freed her from this labour by having awatermillbuilt.

Cormac's sons, Dáire, Cellach, Anlach andCairbre Lifechair,and ten daughters. Two of his daughters,Gráinneand Aillbe, married the heroFionn mac Cumhaill.In the well-known story "The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne",Gráinne was betrothed to Fionn, but instead ran off with a young warrior of thefianna,Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.Diarmuid and Fionn were eventually reconciled, but Fionn later contrived Diarmuid's death during a boar hunt, but was shamed by his sonOisíninto making amends to Gráinne. Fionn and Gráinne were married, and Gráinne persuaded her sons not to make war against Fionn.

Reign

Cormac's reign is recorded in some detail in theIrish annals.He fought many battles, subduing theUlaidandConnachtand leading a lengthy campaign againstMunster.In the fourteenth year of his reign, he is said to have sailed toBritainand made conquests there. In the fifteenth, thirty maidens were slaughtered in Tara by Dúnlaing, king of Leinster, for which Cormac had twelve Leinster princes put to death. In other texts, he is said to have been temporarily deposed twice by the Ulaid, and to have once gone missing for four months. He is also said to have compiled the Psalter of Tara, a book containing the chronicles of Irish history, the laws concerning the rents and dues kings were to receive from their subjects, and records of the boundaries of Ireland.

Although he is usually remembered as a wise and just ruler, one story presents him in a less flattering light. Having distributed all thecattlehe had received as tribute from the provinces, Cormac found himself without any cattle to provision his own household after a plague struck his herds. A steward persuaded him to treat Munster as two provinces, the southern of which had never paid tax. He sent messengers to demand payment, butFiachu Muillethan,the king of southern Munster, refused, and Cormac prepared for war. His own druids, who had never advised him badly, foresaw disaster, but he ignored them, preferring to listen to five druids from thesidhesupplied by hisfairylover,Báirinn.

Cormac marched to Munster and made camp on the hill of Druim Dámhgaire (Knocklong,County Limerick). His new druids' magic made the camp impregnable and his warriors unbeatable, dried up all sources of water used by the Munstermen, and nearly drove Fiacha to submission. But Fiacha in desperation turned to the powerful Munster druidMug Ruithfor aid, and his magic was too strong even for Cormac's fairy druids. He restored the water and conjured up magical hounds who destroyed the fairy druids. His breath created storms and turned men to stone. Cormac was driven out of Munster and compelled to seek terms.

In the taleEchtra Cormaic(Lady Gregory, GAFM IV.11 "His Three Calls to Cormac" ) the Irish King is tempted by the sea-godManannan mac Lirwith treasure, specifically a "shining branch having nine apples of red gold,"in exchange for his family. Cormac is led into the Otherworld (Land of Promise) and taught a harsh lesson by Manannán, but in the end, his wife and children are restored to him. Also, Manannán rewards him with a wonderful gold cup which breaks if three lies are spoken over it and is made whole again if three truths are spoken.Cormac used this cup during his kingship to distinguish falsehood from truth. When Cormac died, the cup vanished, just as Manannan had predicted it would.

The 8th-century textThe Expulsion of the Déisidescribes enmity between Cormac and the group known as theDéisi,descendants of Cormac's great-grandfatherFedlimid Rechtmarwho had been his retainers. Cormac's son Cellach (or Conn) abducts Forach, the daughter of a Déisi leader. Her uncle Óengus Gaíbúaibthech comes to rescue her, but Cellach refuses to release her. Óengus runs Cellach through with his "dread spear", which has three chains attached to it; these chains wound one of Cormac's advisers and blind Cormac in one eye. Cormac fights seven battles against the Déisi, and expels them from their lands. After a period of wandering, they settled in Munster. Cormac, having lost an eye, moves into the Tech Cletig on the hill ofAchall,as it was against the law for a disfigured king to sit in Tara. His duties as king are taken on by his sonCairbre Lifechair.

Death

After ruling for forty years Cormac choked to death on asalmonbone. Some versions blame this on a curse laid by a druid because Cormac had converted toChristianity.Some versions of theLebor Gabála Érennsynchronise his reign with that of the Roman emperorMarcus Aurelius(161–180). Keating dates his reign to 204–244; theAnnals of the Four Mastersto 226–266. An entry in theAnnals of Ulsterdates his death as late as 366.He was succeeded byEochaid Gonnat.

Family tree

Conn Cétchathach

Eithne Táebfada

Medb Lethderg

Art mac Cuinn

Achtan

Macnia mac Lugdach

Saruit

Ailill Aulom

Cormac mac Airt

Eithne Ollamda

Lugaid mac Con

Éogan Mór

Cairbre Lifechair

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

Gráinne

Fionn mac Cumhaill

Aillbe

Fiachu Muillethan

Fíacha Sroiptine

Eochaid Doimlén

Ailill Flann Bec

Connachta

Uí Néill

*

Uí Maine

Airgíalla

Eóganachta

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Stokes, Whitley,ed. (1891),"Echtra Cormaic i Tir Tairngiri ocus Ceart Claidib Cormaic // The Tale of the Ordeals, Cormac's Adventure in the Land of Promise, and the Decision as to Cormac's Sword",Irische Texte,vol. 3, S. Hirzel,pp. 185–202 (text); 203–221 (translation); 222–229 (notes)