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Editions

• L. Gwynn (ed & tr),‘De Shíl Chonairi Móir’, Ériu 6 (1912) 130-43.
  

Manuscripts

• The Book of Lecan, f. 228a

• The Book of Ballymote

• MS T.C.D. H 2.7, col. 90 (Gwynn’s base text)

Date

• the Old Irish period, despite the use of a few later forms.
  

Characters

• Eterscél Mór: king of Tara from the Érainn and the father of Conaire

• Conaire Mór: king of Tara from the Érainn, the son of Mes Búachalla and Eterscél Mór.  His accession to the kingship and his violent death are narrated in the famous saga Togail Bruidne Da Derga.

• Gnáthal mac Conruith: king of Tara and a descendant of Conaire.  In this text, he is regarded as an ancestor of the Múscraige.

• Mes Búachalla: the mother of Conaire.  Various traditions about her parentage are mentioned in the text.  One version says that she is the daughter of some otherworldly being from Síd Breg Leith, another that she is the daughter of Eterscél.

• The following figures are mentioned in the text but play no real role in the narrative:

• Núadu Necht mac Sétna Sithbacc: a member of the prehistoric Laigin.  In some sources, he is said to succeed Eterscél as king of Tara.

• Lugaid Ríabnderg (alias Lugaid Réoderg): in some sources, he is the successor of Conaire Mór as king of Tara.  He is listed in the genealogies of Clann Cholmáin, but is generally known as the 'son of the three Finns of Emain’.  He also appears as the foster-son of Cú Chulainn in Serglige Con Culainn.

• Ailill Bregond, a Munsterman not listed in the published genealogies.  Perhaps he is to be identified with Ailill Broga mac Conath, an ancestor of the Éoganachta.

• Mac Con: king of the Munster Érainn, defeated at the battle of Ebra (alias Cath Cinn Abrat), where he is wounded--according to this text--by Gnáthal.

• The three Cairpri: Cairpre Músc, Cairpre Baschaín, and Cairpre Rigfota, the three sons of Sárait ingen Chuinn Óenláma Gába and Conaire Mór mac Eterscéla or Conaire mac Moga Láma.  Conaire Mór is regarded as the ancestor of various Érainn peoples throughout Ireland, including the Múscraige, Corco Duibne, Corco Baiscinn, and Dál Ríata.  Conaire mac Moga Láma, who may be a doublet of Conaire Mór, is also associated with the Érainn, particularly the Múscraige.

• Cairpre Músc, the eponymous ancestor of the Múscraige.  As the son of Conaire Mór, he is also listed in the genealogies as the ancestor of the Corco Duibne.
• Cairpre Bascaín, the eponymous ancestor of Corco Baiscinn
• Cairpre Rigfota, an ancestor of Dál Ríata
  

Notes

• This text does not present a coherent narrative so much as a summary of various traditions about the Munster Érainn, one that focuses on people of different generations.  The main figures are Conaire Mór, his descendant Gnáthal mac Conruith, Mac Con, and the Three Cairpri.

• The text touches on events related in a number of other sagas (For starters, see Togail Bruidne Da Derga, De Maccaib Conairi, Cath Cinn Abrat, and Cath Maige Mucrama).

• The text is of particular interest because it contains a description of four magical rituals that were used to determine whether or not a candidate was fit for the kingship of Tara.
  

Summary

Mes Búachalla was the mother of Conaire Mór.  While herding sheep on Slíab Gerg and Slíab Fuait, she was impregnated by her foster-father Eterscél, and subsequently bore Conaire.  She kept identity of the father of her child a secret.

Some time later, after Conaire had grown to manhood, Eterscél, the king of Tara, was slain by Núadu Necht mac Sétna Sithbacc of Leinster, and so the Leinstermen and the race of Conn Cétchathach came together to decide who would be the next king of Tara.  Their candidate had to pass four magical tests: he had to control a chariot drawn by two horses that had never been yoked to a chariot before; the king’s mantle that was in the chariot had to fit him; he had to drive the chariot between two stones called Blocc and Bluigne, which would move apart to allow him to pass if he were the rightful king; and lastly the Fál, alias Ferp Cluche, had to screech when the fonnad (wheel-rim?) of his chariot touched it.

While the men of Leinster and Dál Cuinn were at their deliberations, Mes Búachalla told Conaire that he was the son of Eterscél and that he should go to Tara to claim the kingship.  Mes Búachalla gathered troops for her son—some soldiers, druids, and satirists (the implication later in the text is that these supporters are otherworldly beings from Síd Breg Leith)—and then she and her son marched on Tara.  When the people who were there saw them approaching, they fled.  Conaire took up and passed the four tests and was made king of Tara.

Before the troops gathered by his mother took their leave, they imposed a prohibition on Conaire (Facbait airmit fair) to the effect that he should never allow the sun to rise or set on him in Tara.  Then they went away.

At this point, the texts leaves off talking about Conaire to discuss the fate of one of his descendants, a man named Gnáthal mac Conruith, who was king of Tara six generations later (according to the genealogy at the beginning of the text).  The purpose of this narrative is to explain why the Múscraige, who descend from Gnáthal, left Mag Breg for lands in Munster.  (Other traditions about the Múscraige are given at the end of the text.)

The story goes as follows.  Gnáthal’s wife loved Art Óenfer and she tricked Gnáthal out of the kingship (the text is unclear here).  Gnáthal then went to the sons of Ailill Bregond in Munster and asked for land.  They told him they would give him lands if together they fought Mac Con, king of the Érainn.  Gnáthal agreed and they met and defeated Mac Con at the battle of Ebra (alias Cath Cinn Abrat).

The text ends with a summary of the origins of various Érainn peoples: Some time during the reign of Mac Con, the three sons of Conaire Mogalama (aka the three Cairpre) came to Munster.  Óengus (alias Caipre Músc) became the ancestor of the Múscraige; Ailell Baschain (alias Cairpre Baschain) became the ancestor of the Corco Baiscinn; and Eochaid Rigfhota (alias Cairpre Rigfhota) became the ancestor of the Érainn of Alba and Dál Ríada.