According to the saga tradition summarized in Togail Bruidne Dá Derga and related genealogical tracts, Conaire's conception is narrated as his mother Mess Búachalla being visited by Nemglan, who 'flies in her skylight in the form of a bird.' His selection as king is tied to a bull-feast divinatory sequence in which a man eats, sleeps amid chanted incantations, and the figure he sees in the dream is taken as the new king; other recensions and synchronistic lists place him within legendary chronologies and genealogies linking him to Íar mac Dedad and the Clanna Dedad, making him the ancestor of the Síl Conairi. Variant accounts in the medieval tradition disagree on exact parentage details and on synchronisms with historical eras.
Conaire Mór is portrayed primarily in kingly and episodic imagery rather than as a consistently described physical type. Narratives record him arriving at Tara 'naked' in the sequence associated with his coming to kingship, depict him as a warrior-king who fights in the sack of Dá Derga's Hostel, and relate a striking postmortem motif in which his severed head drinks water and recites a poem praising Mac Cécht. Beyond these narrated scenes, the saga sources do not provide a fixed, detailed portrait of his bodily features; descriptions emphasize role and episodic emblematic actions (naked arrival, battlefield deeds, severed-head poem) rather than a sustained physical likeness.
Conaire's capacities in the sources are those of an exceptional historical-legendary sovereign and warrior rather than overt magical powers. He is credited with a long and largely peaceful reign until its violent end, and in combat episodes (notably at Dá Derga's Hostel) he kills great numbers of attackers—accounts say he 'kills six hundred before he reaches his weapons, a further six hundred with his weapons'—demonstrating extraordinary martial effectiveness. His rule is defined by geasa (taboos) imposed by Nemglan; adherence to these sacred injunctions structures his behaviour and fate. The saga tradition also preserves a posthumous agency motif: after his beheading his severed head is said to drink water and recite a poem, indicating lingering narrative agency associated with heroic commemoration.
Weaknesses
- conditionViolation of imposed geasa (taboos)
Wards
- ritualImposition and observance of geasa
Abandinus
Abandinus is a locally attested Romano‑Celtic theonym known from a single inscribed bronze feather (votive object) dedicated at Godmanchester (the Roman fort Durovigutum) in Cambridgeshire. Scholars interpret him as a local god or male spirit tied to a specific place and possibly associated with a nearby spring or stream; this association is tentative and based on etymological readings of the name.
Abarta (Ábartach)
Abarta (also Ábartach) is a figure of Irish myth who, in surviving accounts, tricks Fionn mac Cumhaill's warriors by giving them a supernatural grey horse that bears them into the Otherworld. Sources variably identify him as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann or as a Fomorian; after the incident he is compelled to release the captured warriors and is refused entry to the Fianna.
Abcán (Abhcán)
Abcán (modern spelling Abhcán) is a named dwarf poet and musician of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth. He appears in a small number of narratives as a musician whose art has soporific power and as the ferryman who brings the goddess Ruad from the Otherworld to the human world.
Abhean
Abhean is a named poet of the Tuatha Dé Danann in medieval Irish literature, described as a poet in particular of Lugh and recorded as having been killed by Óengus before Midir in a poem by Fland Mainistreach preserved in the Lebor Gabála Érenn.
Abnoba
Abnoba is a Gaulish theonym and toponym attested in Roman-era sources and inscriptions: a localized deity associated with woods, springs and the sources of rivers (notably the Danube) and simultaneously the name applied to a mountain or mountain range in the Black Forest/Baar/Odenwald region. Roman altars equate her with Diana, reflecting syncretic cult practice in frontier provinces.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Achall
Achall is an eponymous mortal woman in the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature whose grief-induced death is given as the origin of the hill-name Achall (identified with the modern Hill of Skryne). She appears as a genealogical and etiological figure tied to Tara and later legendary events at the hill, rather than as a recurring supernatural agent.
Achtland
Achtland is a figure from Irish tradition who, according to the surviving account, was a mortal woman famed for rejecting mortal suitors who married a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and crossed into the síde to become immortal as his wife.
Adar Llwch Gwin
Legendary large, intelligent birds from Welsh tradition said to understand human speech and obey their master's commands; best known for tearing their master Drudwas ap Tryffin to pieces when bound by a literal order in an Arthurian battle narrative. The term later came to be applied to raptors and metaphorically to brave men in medieval Welsh poetry.
Adar Rhiannon
Adar Rhiannon ('birds of Rhiannon') are a set of three magical birds in medieval Welsh narrative (the Mabinogi) whose song can 'wake the dead and lull the living to sleep.' They appear as otherworldly song‑beings tied to the figure Rhiannon and function within tales as providers of enchanted music that sustains and consoles characters.
Aderyn y Corff
Aderyn y Corff (literally 'bird of the corpse') is a bird-like death-porter in Welsh folklore said to call outside the door of a person about to die. Described as an avian portent that may lack feathers or wings and as existing on another plane when not manifesting, it is treated in Welsh ghost lore and sometimes naturalized as a screech owl in modern accounts.
Adhene
A class of Manx fairies (Cloan ny moyrn) described in Isle of Man tradition as a social people of beings said to be "fallen angels cast from heaven but too good for hell," who interact with human livelihoods and families, sometimes benevolent but often mischievous.
Community Record
- [1]Conaire Mór (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, entry 'Conaire Mór' (summary of Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, genealogical material, and synchronisms).wiki
- [2]Togail Bruidne Dá Derga (summary in secondary sources). Summaries of Togail Bruidne Dá Derga as cited in the provided materials (bull-feast divination, Nemglan, geasa, Dá Derga's Hostel episode).literary
- [3]Lebor Gabála Érenn and annal synchronisms (summarized). Medieval synchronistic chronologies and king-lists as summarized in provided annal and historical source excerpts.literary
- [4]Annals of the Four Masters (chronology). Annals entry synchronising Conaire's reign and giving alternative chronological placements (e.g., 110–40 BC in one recension).literary
- [5]Citizendium: Conaire Mór. Secondary summary material on Conaire's genealogy and role as ancestor of the Síl Conairi.other
- [6]Síl Conairi (Wikipedia). Summary of descendant dynastic group named for Conaire.wiki
- [7]Bard Mythologies: Conaire Mór. Summary retelling of the Conaire Mór narrative elements and variants cited in the research notes.folk
- [8]Archive: Étaín of Ulaidh - Epic Celtic Music of Ireland (background material referencing Étaín). Supplementary material linked in the research notes regarding Étaín and connected genealogical narratives.other