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*Conall Corc 7 Ríge Caisil
"Conall Corc and the Kingship of Cashel"

Editions

  • Vernam Hull (ed. & tr.), ‘Conall Corc and the Kingdom of Cashel’, ZCP 18 (1930) 420-1.

Manuscripts

  • The Book of Lecan

Date

  • Middle Irish, no earlier than the year 1000.

Characters

  • Níall Noígíallach (d. in fifth century): king of Tara and the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill.

  • Conall Corc mac Luigdech (d. in fifth century): king of Cashel and the ancestor of the Éoganacht dynasties.

  • Torna Éices: foster-father of Niall and Corc

  • Láir Derg: foster-mother of Niall and Corc

  • Crimthann Már mac Fidaig (d. in fifth century): king of Ireland and Scotland.  Crimthann is a descendant of Ailill Ólomm, but his line did not survive.

  • Durdrai: the swineherd of the king of the Éile

  • Caireran: the swineherd of the king of the Múscraige

Notes

  • This text is not so much a story as it is a summary of important information about Corc.  A number of texts of this sort survive in Irish MSS.  See, for instance, Éogan Mór and Conn Cétchathach.  Texts of this sort are difficult to understand without prior knowledge of the characters and the events concerned.

Summary

When Conall Corc returned from his exile, his foster-brother, Níall Noígíallach, was king of Tara.  Both men had been raised by Torna Éices and his wife Láir Derg at the house of Crimthann Már.  When Corc was exiled, his father, Lugaid, died, and Crimthann took the kingship of Ireland and Scotland.  However, upon Corc’s return, Crimthann died.  Then, two swineherds, Durdrai and Caireran, found Cashel for him, and so Corc became king of the southern half of Ireland.

 





Copyright 2005 Dan M. Wiley.  Last updated 09/09/05