Notes
Note N226
Index
Fiacha Finnolach,[1] son of Feradach Finnfechtnach, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing his predecessor, Fíatach Finn. He ruled for fifteen, seventeen, or twenty-seven years, depending on the source consulted, after which he, and the freemen of Ireland, were killed in an uprising of aithech-tuatha or "subject peoples", led, according to the Lebor Gabála Érenn and the Annals of the Four Masters, by Elim mac Conrach, or by Cairbre Cinnchait according to Geoffrey Keating. His wife Eithne, daughter of the king of Alba (Scotland), who was pregnant, fled home to Alba, where she gave birth to Fíachu's son, Tuathal Techtmar, who would ultimately return to Ireland to claim the throne. The Lebor Gabála Érenn synchronises his reign with that of the Roman emperor Nerva (AD 96-98).[2] The chronology of Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to AD 28-55,[3] that of the Annals of the Four Masters to AD 39-56.[4]
References
Also Fiacha, Fiachaidh Finnolaidh, Finnfolaidh, Findfholaidh. He is sometimes known as Fíachu Findoilches, the name of an earlier High King.
R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed. & trans.), Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V, Irish Texts Society, 1956, p. 307
Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 1.38
Annals of the Four Masters M39-56
Notes
Note N225
Index
Feradach Finnfechtnach ("fair-blessed"), son of Crimthann Nia Náir, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. There is some disagreement in the sources over his position in the traditional sequence of High Kings.
The Lebor Gabála Érenn and the Annals of the Four Masters[3] agree that he came to power after the death of Cairbre Cinnchait. The Annals say that when Cairbre overthrew his father, his mother, Baine, daughter of the king of Alba, was pregnant with him, but this would make him less than five years old when he came to the throne: it is likely this is a doublet of a similar story told of the later High King Tuathal Techtmar.[4] The Annals also add that Ireland was fertile during his reign, contrasting it with the barren reign of the usurper Cairbre. Geoffrey Keating[5] has Feradach succeed his father Crimthann, placing Cairbre's reign later. Keating relates that the judge Morann mac Máin (who in the Lebor Gabála and the Annals is the son of Cairbre and his wife Mani) lived in Feradach's time. Morann owned the id Morainn (Morann's collar or torc)[6] which would contract around the neck of a judge who made an unjust judgement until he made a just one, or of a witness who made a false testimony until he told the truth.
Feradach ruled for twenty years according to the Lebor Gabála and Keating, twenty-two according to the Annals, before dying a natural death at Tara. In all sources he was succeeded by Fíatach Finn. The Lebor Gabála synchronises his reign with that of the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81-96) and the death of Pope Clement I (AD 99). The chronology of Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to AD 5-25, that of the Annals of the Four Masters to AD 14-36.
References
Dictionary of the Irish Language, Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, 1990, pp. 296, 307
R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed. & trans.), Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V, Irish Texts Society, 1956, p. 305
Annals of the Four Masters M14-36
T. F. O'Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946, pp 159-161
Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 1.38
Dictionary of the Irish Language, Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, 1990, pp. 379
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feradach_Finnfechtnach"
Notes
Note N223
Index
Crimthann Nia Náir (nephew of Nár), son of Lugaid Riab nDerg, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. Lugaid is said to have fathered him on his own mother, Clothru, daughter of Eochu Feidlech.
The Lebor Gabála Érenn says he overthrew the High King Conchobar Abradruad, but does not say he became High King himself - Conchobar was succeeded by Cairbre Cinnchait.[1] Geoffrey Keating[2] and the Annals of the Four Masters[3] agree that Crimthann succeeded Conchobar as High King and ruled for sixteen years. He is said to have gone on a voyage with his aunt Nár, a fairy woman, for a month and a fortnight, and returned with treasures including a gilded chariot, a golden fidchell board, a gold-embroidered cloak, a sword inlaid with gold serpents, a silver-bossed shield, a spear and a sling which never missed their mark, and two greyhounds with a silver chain between them. Soon after he returned he fell from his horse and died at Howth. Keating says he was succeeded by his son Feradach Finnfechtnach, the Annals of the Four Masters by Cairbre Cinnchait.
The Lebor Gabála places him in the reign of the Roman emperor Vespasian (AD 69-79). The chronology of Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to 12 BC - AD 5, that of the Annals of the Four Masters to 8 BC - AD 9.
References
R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed. & trans.), Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V, Irish Texts Society, 1956, p. 303-305
Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 1.37-38
Annals of the Four Masters M5192-9