Cormac mac Airt – High King Known for Wisdom and Valour

Cormac mac Airt is also known by the names Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard) and was one of the most famous High Kings of Ancient Ireland, reigning for forty years and being known for being wise and just in his judgements.

He is described in the Annals of Clonmacnoise which were translated in 1627, 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".

It is believed that the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill lived in Cormac’s time, and the stories from the Fenian Cycle are set during Cormac’s reign.

Cormac was said to have built the first mill in Ireland and to have become a Christian before he died. Some stories state he choked to death on a fishbone, but the Lebar na h-Uidhre, his death was caused by the siabhra, or fairy folk, as punishment for abandoning the old religion.

The Birth of Cormac mac Art

Cormac was the son of King Art the Lonely and the grandson of Conn of the Hundred Battles, so he came from a famous linage.

The story of Cormac’s birth can be found within the sage ‘The Battle of Mag Mucrama,’ and tells of how he was conceived and the prophesies around it.

Cormac’s mother was Achtan, who was the daughter of Olc Acha, who was a smith from Connacht. In the saga, the Battle of Mag Mucrama, it was said that on the night before the Battle of Maigh Mucruimhe, Art was given a place to stay by Olc, who offered Art his daughter for the night and as a result Cormac was conceived. In an alternative telling, Geoffrey Keating said that Achta was Art’s mistress who he had given a dowry of cattle.

Whilst Achta was pregnant, she had a dream which she did not understand. In her dream, her head was removed from her body, and a great tree grew from her neck. The branches of the tree spread out across Ireland until a large wave from the sea destroyed it. The roots of the tree survived and from them a new tree grew, however, it was not as strong as the first tree. A large gust of wind came from the west and overthrew it.

Achta was confused by her dream and told her husband Art, and he told her that it was a prophetic dream for the future. In the book, The High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland by T.W Rolleston (1910), Art is said to have replied:

"It is a true dream," said Art. "I am thy head, and this portends that I shall be violently taken from thee. But thou shalt bear me a son who shall be King of all Ireland, and shall rule with great power and glory until some disaster from the sea overtake him. But from him shall come yet another king, my grandson and thine, who shall also be cut down, and I think that the cause of his fall shall be the armies of the Fian host, who are swift and keen as the wind." (Rolleston, 1910)

It was not long after this that Art was killed in battle. He had prepared Achta was this event and told her that should he fall in battle she should travel to his friend, Luna who lived in Corann in Connacht.

Achta set off with her maid, in her chariot, but on the way Achta went into labour and her child was born. She was, understandably, very tired and asked her maid to watch over her child whilst she slept. Her maid was also tired, and she fell asleep. As she slept, a she-wolf came across them and without waking the maid, picked up the baby and carried it away to a stony cave at Creevagh, which was later called Mount Cormac.

When Achta and her maid woke up and realised that the child was missing they searched everywhere but there was no sign of the child. Luna came across them as they were searching for the baby, as he had heard the news that Art had fallen in battle and was heading to bring Achta to his home to protect her.

Luna proclaimed that whoever found the child would be granted anything that they desired. In time, a man named Grec, who was a clansman of Luna found a small naked child running around on all fours and playing with wolf cubs.

As a reward for finding the child, Grex asked for land and Luna was obligated to give it to him as he had promised to grant any wish to whoever found the child. Once the land had been promised, Grec took Luna to where the child could be found and he was brought home along with the wolf-cubs.

Cormac lived with Luna in Connacht and was unaware of his heritage.

The Judgement of Cormac

At this time, Cormac was still unaware of his heritage and lived with Luna and his family. One day whilst playing with the son’s of Luna, they argued and had a fight. Cormac won and in retaliation, the son of Luna said, ‘I have been beaten by one that knows not his clan or kindred, save that he is a fellow without a father.’

Cormac was upset by these words and Luna realised that it was time to tell the boy about his father. Luna told Cormac how his father was Art, the High King of Ireland who had been killed by mac Con in battle, who now sat on Cormac’s father’s throne.

Cormac said that he would leave to go to Tara and so he did, with a group of men who had been outlawed by mac Con and who had gathered together under Luna. He was also accompanied by the wolf-cubs who he had been raised alongside. When they arrived in Tara, the people were astonished to see such a strange group.

Cormac was adopted by mac Con, and he was taught how to fight, poetry, and the law. Mac Con was not a good king, and people began to watch Cormac who was growing to be a good man.

Cormac continued to learn under the king and time passed. One day a case was brought before the king where the queen sued a wealthy woman who was the owner of sheep that had strayed onto the fields that belonged to the queen and eaten the crops growing there. The king passed judgement in favour of the queen, saying that the sheep who had eaten the crops should be given to the queen as compensation.

Cormac, however, disagreed with the judgement and he announced in front of the people that the queen should be given the wool of the sheep when they were shorn, as they crops would grow again and so would be sheep’s wool.

All the people who were there cried out that this was a true judgement that would be made by a true king’s son. Following this judgement, the druids spoke to Mac conn and advised him to leave Tara, or he would die within six months and hand over kingship to Cormac.

He did as he was advised, but he was not happy about it. Mac conn left Tara and headed south to Munster where he gathered together his supporters to help him get his throne back. Cormac became aware of this, and he sent his own men to dispose of Mac con whilst he was paying his followers with large amounts of silver and gold. The place where Mac con died was named The Field of Gold.

Unfortunately for Cormac, it was not as easy as the throne just being handed over to him once Mac con left as Fergus Dubdétach, king of the Ulaid, drove Cormac away to Connacht and took the throne himself.

Cormac began to look for allies to help him take the throne from Fergus, and he went to Tadg mac Céin, a nobleman whose father had been killed by Fergus, and asked for his help. In return, Cormac would give Tadg as much land as he could drive around in his chariot over one day. Tadg told Cormac to also recruit his grandfather’s brother, Lugaid Láma.

Cormac became aware that Lugaid was responsible for the death of his father, and so he demanded to that Lugaid bring him Fergus’ head as payment for his crime.

Now that he had Tadg and Lugaid, Cormac marched out against Fergus and thus began the Balle of Crinna.

Poor Lugaid tried to make amends, but it took a while as Fergus also had two brothers who were also called Fergus. Lugaid killed Fergus’ two brothers before he managed to kill the right Fergus. Lugaid was badly wounded in the fight, and he later died from blood loss and exhaustion.

Tadg had also been wounded but was determined to gain the land promised to him and so he took his chariot and began a circuit of Brega, trying to get Tara itself within the circle. However, he passed our and when he awoke, he asked his charioteer if they had circled Tara. When the man said no, Tadg killed him and wanted to continue. Cormac stopped him and had his physicians treat Tadg’s wounds which took a year. Cormac took the throne and Tadg was awarded big tracts of land in northern Ireland.

The High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland by T.W Rolleston (1910) describes the rule of Cormac as follows:

So Cormac, son of Art, ruled in Tara and was High King of all Ireland. And the land, it is said, knew its rightful lord, and yielded harvests such as never were known, while the forest trees dripped with the abundance of honey and the lakes and rivers were alive with fish. So much game was there, too, that the folk could have lived on that alone and never put a ploughshare in the soil. In Cormac's time the autumn was not vexed with rain, nor the spring with icy winds, nor the summer with parching heat, nor the winter with whelming snows. His rule in Erinn, it is said, was like a wand of gold laid on a dish of silver.

Also he rebuilt the ramparts of Tara and made it strong, and he enlarged the great banqueting hall and made pillars of cedar in it ornamented with plates of bronze, and painted its lime-white walls in patterns of red and blue. Palaces for the women he also made there, and store-houses, and halls for the fighting men—never was Tara so populous or so glorious before or since. And for his wisdom and righteousness knowledge was given to him that none other in Ireland had as yet, for it was revealed to him that the Immortal Ones whom the Gael worshipped were but the names of One whom none can name, and that his message should ere long come to Ireland from over the eastern sea, calling the people to a sweeter and diviner faith.

And to the end of his life it was his way to have wolves about him, for he knew their speech and they his, and they were friendly and tame with him and his folk, since they were foster-brothers together in the wild wood.

Echtrae Cormac (The Adventure of Cormac)

This is the story of how Cormac travels across to Tir Tairgire (Land of Promise) after a chance meeting with a strange warrior.

One day whilst Cormac was king, he met a warrior at Tara who was carrying a branch from which hung three golden apples. When the branch was shaken, beautiful music sounded and Cormac desired to gain ownership of the beautiful branch.

The warrior said that if Cormac would grant him three wishes, then the branch and the apples would be his. After this, the warrior left and did not return to Tara for a year.

When he returned, he made his first wish. He said that he would like to take Cormac’s daughter, Ailbe with him and such was Cormac’s desire for the branch that he sent his daughter away with the nameless warrior.

The warrior returned one month later and this time he said that his second wish was for Cairbre Lifechair, Cormac’s son, to leave with him. Once again, Cormac agreed.

The warrior then made his final wish, which was that Cormac should hand over his wife Eithne to him. For Cormac this was a step too far and he refused to give his wife to the warrior. The warrior did not accept this and used magic to spirit Eithne away from Tara. Cormac tried to follow, but the magic had caused mist to cover the land and Cormac was soon lost.

Cormac travelled, having adventures before he finally came across a dun, which is a type of earthen hill fort built in areas where it is harder to come across stone to build. The owner of the dun invited Cormac in and offered him his hospitality. On the spit was a pig that was waiting to be roasted and Cormac’s host told him that the pig could not be roasted until a true story was told. Cormac told the man the story of the warrior and how he had taken his wife and children with him. By the time that Cormac had finished telling the tale, the pig was fully roasted and so it was determined that the tale was a true tale.

The pig was ready to eat, but Cormac had a geis (or a taboo) where he could not dine until he was in the company of 50 other people. The host had magic and so he used it to make Cormac fall to sleep and when he woke up, he was surrounded by a company of 50 warrior. His wife and children were also present.

The nameless warrior introduced himself as Manannán mac Lir, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Manannán is a god of the sea, a warrior, and a king of the Otherworld. His home has more than one name and is referred to as –

Emain Ablach or Isle of Apple Trees

Mag Mell or Plain of Delights

Tir Tairngire or Land of Promise

He is able to use the Féth fíada (mist of invisibility), which is how he managed to disappear without Cormac being able to track him. He uses the mist to hide the whereabouts of his home. Manannán is known to own a self-navigating boat named Sguaba Tuinne (Wave Sweeper), a horse Aonbharr which was able to not only run on land, but also on water, and a sword which he named Fragarach. The sword was able to sap the strength of anyone he fought.

Once he had introduced himself, Manannán showed Cormac a broken cup and explained that it was the Cup of Truth. Manannán explained that three lies would break the cup and three truths would restore it. Manannán then told three truths so that the cup would be restored. The truths he told where as follows:

1.   Cormac’s wife, Eithne had not slept with any other man since she had been taken from Tara.

2.   Cormac’s daughter, Ailbe was still a virgin.

3.   Cormac’s son had not slept with any woman.

As these statements were true, the cup was restored and handed over to Cormac. He kept the cup until his reign ended and it was used to determine truth from falsehood throughout his reign.

The Death of Cormac

Cormac had a long reign of 40 years and his death, unlike many other kings, was not in battle but as a result of choking on a salmon bone. In some versions of the story, it is stated that this happened as the result of a curse placed upon him by druids and he was reputed to have converted to Christianity before his death.

The death of Cormac can be found in the poetry of Samuel Ferguson (1810 – 1886)

By Samuel Ferguson

"Crom Cruach and his sub-gods twelve,"
Said Cormac "are but carven treene;
The axe that made them, haft or helve,
Had worthier of our worship been.
"But He who made the tree to grow,
And hid in earth the iron-stone,
And made the man with mind to know
The axe's use, is God alone."

Anon to priests of Crom was brought —
Where, girded in their service dread,
They minister'd on red Moy Slaught —
Word of the words King Cormac said.
They loosed their curse against the king;
They cursesd him in his flesh and bones;
And daily in their mystic ring
They turn'd the maledictive stones,
Till, where at meat the monarch sate,
Amid the revel and the wine,
He choked upon the food he ate,
At Sletty, southward of the Boyne.
High vaunted then the priestly throng,
And far and wide they noised abroad
With trump and loud liturgic song
The praise of their avenging God.
But ere the voice was wholly spent
That priest and prince should still obey,
To awed attendants o'er him bent
Great Cormac gather'd breath to say, —
"Spread not the beds of Brugh for me
When restless death-bed's use is done:
But bury me at Rossnaree
And face me to the rising sun.
"For all the kings who lie in Brugh
Put trust in gods of wood and stone;
And 'twas at Ross that first I knew
One, Unseen, who is God alone.

"His glory lightens from the east;
message soon shall reach our shore;
And idol-god, and cursing priest
Shall plague us from Moy Slaught no more."
Dead Cormac on his bier they laid: —
"He reign'd a king for forty years,
And shame it were," his captains said,
"He lay not with his royal peers.
"His grandsire, Hundred-Battle, sleeps
Serene in Brugh: and, all around,
Dead kings in stone sepulchral keeps
Protect the sacred burial ground.
"What though a dying man should rave
Of changes o'er the eastern sea?
In Brugh of Boyne shall be his grave,
And not in noteless Rossnaree."
Then northward forth they bore the bier,
And down from Sletty side they drew,
With horsemen and with charioteer,
To cross the fords of Boyne to Brugh.
There came a breath of finer air
That touch'd the Boyne with ruffling wings,
It stir'd him in his sedgy lair
And in his mossy moorland springs.
And as the burial train came down
With dirge and savage dolorous shows,
Across their pathway, broad and brown
The deep, full-hearted river rose;

From bank to bank through all his fords,
'Neath blackening squalls he swell'd and boil'd;
And thrice the wondering gentile lords
Essay'd to cross, and thrice recoil'd.
Then forth stepp'd grey-hair'd warriors four:
They said, "Through angrier floods than these,
On link'd shields once our king we bore
From Dread-Spear and the hosts of Deece.
"And long as loyal will holds good,
And limbs respond with helpful thews,
Nor flood, nor fiend within the flood,
Shall bar him of his burial dues."
With slanted necks they stoop'd to lift;
They heaved him up to neck and chin;
And, pair and pair, with footsteps swift,
Lock'd arm and shoulder, bore him in.
'Twas brave to see them leave the shore;
to mark the deep'ning surges rise,
And fall subdued in foam before
The tension of their striding thighs.
'Twas brave, when now a spear-cast out,
Breast-high the battling surges ran;
For weight was great, and limbs were stout,
And loyal man put trust in man.
But ere they reach'd the middle deep,
Nor steadying weight of clay they bore,
Nor strain of sinewy limbs could keep
Their feet beneath the swerving four.

And now they slide, and now they swim,
And now, amid the blackening squall,
Grey locks aloat, with clutching grim,
They plunge around the floating pall.
While, as a youth with practiced spear
Through justling crowds bears off the ring,
Boyne from their shoulders caught the bier
And proudly bore away the king.
At morning, on the grassy marge
Of Rossnaree, the corpse was found,
And shepherds at their early charge
Entomb'd it in the peaceful ground.
A tranquil spot: a hopeful sound
Comes from the ever youthful stream,
And still on daisied mead and mound
The dawn delays with tenderer beam.
Round Cormac Spring renews her buds:
In march perpetual by his side,
Down come the earth-fresh April floods,
And up the sea-fresh salmon glide;
And life and time rejoicing run
From age to age their wonted way;
But still he waits the risen Sun,
For still 'tis only' dawning Day.