How the mighty King Conn Cetchathach Fell
Irish and Celtic myths and legends, Irish folklore and Irish fairy tales from the Historical Cycle
Aided Chuinn Chétchathaig
Conn Cétchathach, or Conn of the Hundred Battles, was as his name suggested a mighty warrior-king of ancient Ireland. Some say it was after him that the province of Connacht was named, and he was made king after he accidentally stepped on the Lia Fáil, the coronation stone at Tara. It had been cast aside, lost, half buried and used as part of the ramparts of Temair since Cú Chulainn split it with his sword when it failed to roar for his friend Lugaid Riab nDerg.
But I tell you, when Conn set foot on it, the Lia Fáil roared with all its might! A wise old druid explained the meaning of the stone, and said the number of cries the stone loosed was the number of kings who will follow Conn, but he was not the man to name them.
Conn had a long reign – twenty, twenty-five, thirty-five or even fifty years according to different versions of the Lebor Gabála, spending much of it at war with Mug Nuadat, the king of Munster.
Some suggest the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill was born in Conn's time. His father, Cumhall, was a warrior in Conn's service and a suitor of Muirne, daughter of the druid Tadg mac Nuadat, but Tadg refused his suit, so Cumhall abducted her.
Conn in outrage at this defiance went to war against his former servant - as the old Irish seanfhocail says, if you draw your sword against your prince, throw away your sheath - and Cumhall was killed by Goll mac Morna in the Battle of Cnucha.
But Muirne was already pregnant, and her druidic father cast her out, ordering her to be burned after the old pagan ways of cleansing. She fled to King Conn, who put her under the protection of Cumhall's brother in law Fiacal mac Conchinn. It was in Fiacal's house that she gave birth to a son, Deimne, who was later renamed Fionn.
But this is not the tale of Conn's long life - rather it is the story of the cunning and treachery which led to his end.
Conn's brother Eochaid had long lusted after the throne himself, and he had done his best to disrupt Conn's reign, being no match for him in arms or strategy. Eventually Conn grew tired of these schemes and Eochaid fled to Ulster, to hide behind the protection of its kings.
Walking a delicate line between dealing with his unruly brother and respecting teh pwoer of the Northern Kings, Conn sent five of his most trusted men to capture and expel Eochaid, sending him into exile. Sad to say, they came across Eochaid while he was out hunting with his dogs on Sliabh Breg and were forced to kill him. The Kings of the Ulaid in the North were enraged and demanded Conn's death for the insult, but eventually they were calmed by gifts and wise diplomacy.
Even so, they nursed a grudge long and long, and passed their bitterness on to their sons!
After fifteen years of peace, the king of Munster and old rival of Conn, Mug Nuadat, broke his treaty of peace with Conn and the men of Ulster joined them in warfare, claiming the tributes they were paying to Conn were excessive and they chafed under the yoke of his authority. They mustered a great army in Mag Leana, near Tullamore, County Offaly.
Conn fell back to Connacht, gathered his forces and attacked suddenly, retaking Meath from the king of Ulster. In doing so they killed Mál mac Rochraidhe, king of Ulster, before he and his army could join forces with the king of Munster.
Fearing for his life, Tiobraide Tíreach mac Máil, the new king of Ulster, fled to Ailbe and stayed there for three years with its king, who urged him to make peace with Conn.
Peace he would have, he brooded in vengeance - the peace of the grave!
But he sent messengers to Conn anyway, suggesting they could sit and talk about the division of Ireland and how they could break bread together. The messengers made contact with Art Coirbthe mac Fiacha Suidhe, a Gaelic noble who was held as a hostage by Conn, and he told them much of Conn's habits and plans.
Knowing now that Conn would be preparing for the ancient feast of Tara, they readied a hundred and fifty men to surprise him in a way none would expect, and made their way from Emain Macha to Tulach in Toirléime above Tuaiththeamhair.
Meanwhile, Roithniamh inghean Umhaill Uarchoraigh from the otherwold mound of Síth Ochta Clithigh came to Tara and chanted a poem prophesising Conn’s death. She was the same woman who announced Conn’s birth to Fíngen mac Luchta years before. When her prophecy was confirmed by Mál, one of Conn’s druids, she took her leave.
Paying no heed to the mumbling of old women, Conn was in good high spirits when the day of the feast drew near. It was a fine summery morning when his sister Aoife and her women went forth to shear sheep as Conn awoke and got himself dressed. His bodyguards gave him his shield and spear and they went out to meet the shearers.
His sister Aoife met them at the gate of the fastness and Conn and his men saw what appeared to be a group of women coming towards them. Although the king didn't think they really looked like women, Aoife of the less sure vision said that it was only her shearers returning for the Feast of Tara.
But as they came closer, they threw off their costumes and draw their weapons!
Conn then understood that Art mac Fiacha Suidhe had betrayed him to the Ulaid. His bodyguards offered to hold the Ulstermen off while they attacked, and Aoife said she could work magic in his defence, but Conn recalled the prophecy and knew his time had come.
Valiantly he fought but he was eventually killed by Tiobraide the treacherous, some say using a sword that once belonged to Cú Chulainn.
"Cath Maighe Léna" states that the name of the hill where Conn was killed was Druim Tuirléime, a strange and mysterious site which can be found on the map below!
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