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# 166: (con' re mor') King of Ireland near the beginning of the Christian era, grandson of Etain and Cormac, king of Ulster and son of Mess Buachalla. Sometimes referred to as son of Eterscel, king of Ireland, who was the husband of his mother.
# 454: He was proclaimed King of Tara after he had been prophesied by a druid. He was given a great many geasa (prohibitions) by his otherworldly father such as not sleeping in a house from which firelight could be seen after sunset. His foster brothers, jealous of his success, conspired to bring him to Da Derga's hostel, where Conaire was compelled to break each of his geasa. He was there attacked and betrayed and although his champion, Mac Cecht fought valiantly to defend him, he died. Only Conall Cernach escaped.
# 562: Conaire Mor was in possesion of the singing sword. He descended from Etain Oig, daughter of Etain. His mother was Mess Buachalla, and his foster-father was Desa. His foster-brothers were Ferlee, Fergar, and Ferrogan. Nemglan commands him go to Tara, where he is proclaimed King of Erin. Nemglan declares his geise, and Conaire is lured into breaking his geise. The three Reds and Conaire at Da Derga's Hostel, where they are visited by the Morrigan.
# 166 - 188 - 454 - 562
According to the REVUE CELTIQUE there are a number of conflicting traditions about the parentage of Mes Buachella and her son Conaire Mor, King of Ireland. 'The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel' has that she was the daughter of Cormac mac Art and his wife Etain. Etain had proved barren until she conceived this daughter after being given a pottage by her mother, a woman from the sid-mounds. Cormach married again and ordered his daughter to be abandoned in a pit. Two servants were entrusted with the task, but they lost heart when the child laughed as they were putting her in the pit and they left her instead in the calf-shed of the cowherds of Eterscel, great-grandson of Iar, King of Tara. The cowherds reared her and she was named Mes Buachalla, 'the cowherd's foster-child'. According to other sources Mes Buachalla was the daughter of Ess, who conceived her either through incest with her father, Eochaid Airem, King of Tara, or through intercourse with the sid-folk of Bri Leith. Eochaid ordered the destruction of the child, but she was left in a kennel, with a bitch and her whelps, at the house of a herdsman. We now revert to 'The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel'. The cowherds kept the girl concealed in a house of wicker-work which had only a roof-opening, but King Eterscel's folk discovered her and told him of their find. It had been prophesied that a woman of unknown race would bear Eterscel a child, so he sent people to break into the wicker house and bring her to him. Before this was done, a bird came through the skylight and told the girl what was being planned. He shed his bird-plumage on the floor and she gave her love to him. He told her that she would have by him a son, whose name would be Conaire, and that he should not kill birds. She was then betrothed to Eterscel. Others say, however, that Eterscel was Mes Buachalla's father.
# 548
(con'al ân'gl"n ah) Son of Iriel Glunma; one of the twelve great chariot fighters of Ulster.
# 166
Conall Cernach's mother was Findchoem, daughter of Cathbad and wife of Amairgen. She suffered from 'hesitation of offspring', and when a druid told her that she should bear a noble son if she paid him a good fee, she accompanied him to a well over which he sang spells and prophecies. He then told her to wash in the water, and 'you will bring forth a son, and no child will be less pious than he to his mother's kin, that is to the Connachtmen'. Findchoem then drank a draught from the well and swallowed a worm. That worm was in the boy's hand in his mother's womb and it pierced the hand and consumed it. Druids baptized the child into heathenism, prophesying as they did so the havoc he would eventually wreak upon the men of Connacht. Cet, the mother's brother, who, although he knew of the prophecies, had protected his sister until her delivery, now drew the child towards him and put it under his heel and bruised its neck. Thereupon the mother exclaimed: 'Wolfish (conda) is the treachery (fell) you work, O Brother.' 'True,' said Cet, 'let Conall (Con-feall) be his name henceforward.' Whence he was called wry-necked Conall. See also: CONALL OF THE VICTORIES.
# 548 - 642
# 166:(con'al cârn'ah)
# 562: Member of Conary's retinue at Red Hostel. Amorgin, his father, found by him at Teltin. Shrinks from test (re) the Championship of Ireland. - Under the Debility curse. Avenges CuChulain's death by slaying Lewy. - His 'brain ball' causes death of Conor mac Nessa. - Conall slays Ket.
# 454: Conall the Victorious preceded CuChulain as the great hero of the Red Branch Warriors in Ulster. He was the only survivor of the destruction of Da Derga's hostel, where Conaire (Conary) was killed. With Loegaire, he appears as CuChulain's rival in the story of Bricriu's Feast where the three heroes contended for the hero's portion of the feast and were challenged by Cu Roi mac Daire to the beheading game.
# 166 - 454 - 562
Conan Meriadoc became the first ruler of Brittany, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth (# 243). Gallet claims that he is one of Arthur's ancestors.
# 55 - 156 - 243
Son of Lia, lord of Luachar; Finn makes a covenant with Conan mac Lia.
# 562
One of the Fianna. Like Bricriu of the Red Branch Knights and Kay (Cai) of the Round Table Knights, Conan was the thorn in the side of his fellows, yet he performed many reckless deeds in their honour. He mounted the horse of the Giolla Deacair, and went to Tir na Tairngire until he was rescued by Fionn.
# 267 - 454 - 467 - 504
Fomorian king.
# 562
(kon AR ee)
(con ho'var or con'th har) Conor mac Nessa. Son of Nessa and Cathbad. He was born on the same day as Christ. Nessa won for him the right to be King of Ulster from Fergus mac Roigh. He was uncle of CuChulain. He wished to marry his ward, Deirdriu, but when she fled with Naoisi and his brothers to Alba he gave chase. Although he promised to forgive them, he killed Deirdriu's abductors and slept with her. A sling-shot was lodged in his brain which surgeons could not remove lest he die. On hearing of the crucifixion of Christ he over-exerted himself trying to avenge him, the sling-shot then fell out of his head and he died. See also: CONOR MAC NESSA.
# 166 - 188 - 352 - 454
If we attempt to arrange the material of the Ulster cycle in its traditional order, we come first upon a group of narratives dealing with the births of several of the leading personages. There are certain facts in the life of every hero that the folk feel they are entitled to know. Among these are his birth, his marriage, and his death. Birth stories, though naturally coming first in traditional chronology, are usually later in date of composition than stories dealing with the hero's mature achievements. 'The Birth of Conchobar' exist in two versions, of which at least one was composed as early as the eighth century. According to the oldest account, Conchobar, who figures as king of Ulster in the most ancient Irish tales, was the son of Nessa, princess of Ulster, by Cathbad, the official druid of the Ulster court. Both in the sagas and in the annals Conchobar is represented as having been born on the same day as Christ and as having died upon receiving the news of his crucifixion. Through the strategem of his mother he displaced Fergus mac Roig, the rightful king of Ulster, and reigned in his stead. Though he appears at times cruel and unscrupulous, he is generally represented as a brave warrior and a just ruler.
# 166
# 156: In Wolfram, the wife of Perceval and Queen of Brobarz.
# 562: A maiden wedded by Parzival.
# 156 - 562 - 748
The brother of Cu Roi. He was one of three plagues which Celtchair was obligated to overcome, for Conganchas ravaged the land and was invulnerable to ordinary weapons. Celtchair made his daughter, Niamh, marry this man so that she might discover how to overcome him. She learned that he was vulnerable in the soles of his feet and calves of his legs, into which sharp spears could be stuck, and so Celtchair killed him. This tale is clearly related to the British Grail story of Peredur.
# 208 - 454
Conn of the Hundred Battles. King of Ireland beginning AD 177, son of Rechtmar, husband of Becuma. He agreed to the banishment of Art, his son by a former marriage. The year of his union with Becuma caused Ireland to become a wasteland , without corn or milk. His druids said that the land could only be healed through the bloodshed of a boy of sinless parents. He went on a quest for such a boy, leaving the kingdom to Art in his absence. Conn travelled to the Otherworld, and begged that the beautiful youth called Segda Saerlabraid be allowed to come to Ireland and be bathed in waters which would heal the land.
Segda realized what was intended but he was willing to die. Just then a lowing cow and a wailing woman appeared (see RIGRU ROISCLETHAN). She asked the druids what was in the bags on the cow's back. They could not tell her. She judged that the cow should be killed in place of the youth and that the bags be opened. They revealed a bird with one leg and a bird with twelve legs. The birds contended, and the woman revealed that the druids were the twelvelegged one who lost the combat, and Segda was the one-legged one. She then called on Conn to execute his druids for false judgement and to put away Becuma. Conn also discovered, by accident, the Stone of Fal (See HALLOWS) which screamed under the feet of a rightful king, the same number of times as he would have reigning heirs. When the druid would not tell him who they would be, Conn had a vision of Sovereignty with her cup of gold and Lugh who told him the number of kings to succeed him. Some scholars disagree about Conn's reigning years. Tom Peete Cross and Clark Harris Slover have him start his reign in the first half of the second century after Christ, while Rolleston and others argues that he died AD 157.
# 166 - 188 - 352 - 438 - 454 - 548
One of the children of Lir, son of Aobh. His stepmother turned him into a swan. See: CHILDREN OF LIR.
# 562
Ethal Anubal, prince of the Danaans of Connacht. - Ailell and Maev, mortal King and Queen of Connacht, Angus Og seeks their help in efforts to win Caer. - Origin of the name of the province, Leinster is traditionally derived from the invasions of the Gauls armed with spear-heads called Laighne, and as they were allotted lands in Leinster, the province was called in Irish Laighin after them - the Province of Spearmen. - CuChulain makes a foray upon Connacht, and descends upon host of the province under Maev. Ket a champion. Queen Maev reigned in Connacht for eighty-eight years. Connacht was 'the land of the children of Conn' he who was called Conn of the Hundred Battles, and who died AD 157. See: CONN CET-CATHACH.
# 562
Son of CuChulain and Aifa. - Before CuChulain left the Land of Shadows he gave Aifa a golden ring, saying that if she should bear him a son he was to be sent to seek his father in Erin so soon as he should have grown so that his finger would fit the ring. And CuChulain said, 'Charge him under Geise that he shall not make himself known, that he never turn out of the way for any man, nor ever refuse a combat. And be his name called Connla.' Aifa sends him to Erin. When he landed in Ireland he met and was challenged by CuChulain. Although he knew his father and could have killed him easely, Connla missed the mortal blow and was killed by his father. CuChulain then saw the ring and realized whom he had slain.
# 266 - 454 - 562
This story is one of the most ancient in Cross' and Slover's ANCIENT IRISH TALES, dating probably from the eighth century. Its directness and restraint are in distinct contrast to the more florid narrative method of THE DEATH OF FINN and THE SECOND BATTLE OF MOYTURA. The observant reader is in no danger of mistaking the economy and terseness of this story for barrenness of imagination. The struggle of the father for possession of his son is told in almost as few words as Goethe's famous 'Erl-King,' and although artistic comparison between the old Irish tale and the great modern ballad would be unprofitable, we cannot fail to recognize a strong emotional kinship between them. It will be noted that the story is thrown into the form of the 'Dinnsenchas'. Of course this is only a mechanical trick. The widespread theme of the mortal who follows a supernatural woman to Fairyland is here artificially linked to the explanation of the name. Having the prediction of St Patrick come from the lips of one of the pagan fairy folk is an engaging touch. Conn the Hundred-Fighter, the father of Art and Connla, was one of the earliest high-kings of Ireland. According to the annals he flourished during the first half of the second century after Christ.
# 166
Equivalent, Well of Knowledge. Sinend's fatal visit to Connla's Well.
# 562
Connla is the son whom, according to THE WOOING OF EMER, the warlike Aife was destined to bear to CuChulain. The story of how the boy followed CuChulain to Ireland and was there slain by his own father reminds us of the famous epic tale of Sohrab and Rustem, best known to English readers through Matthew Arnold's poem of that name. The story of Connla probably existed in tradition before it was first recorded in the eighth century, and it is one of the few tales of the Ulster cycle that has maintained its popularity among the folk in more recent times. Numerous versions of a ballad on the death of Connla have been taken down from popular recitation during the last century. The title is sometimes given as 'The Tragic Death of the Only Son of Aife (Oenfer Aife)'. Tom Peete Cross and Clark Harris Slover have the tale in their ANCIENT IRISH TALES.
# 166
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