Celtic+Heroes

=Celtic Heroes= By: Dylan Hysni

Celtic Heroes are heroes in celtic mythology that reside in most of central and western Europe and in Ireland and Britain. They are in put into the warrior society and are specifically made up into different groups such as Red Branch, Sianna, High Kings, and many others. Each group has many distinctive heroes and kings.

=Red Branch= Fergus Mac Roich- He was the leader of the warriors of the red branch. His half brother fachtna died and he was next in line to rule the throne and he fell in love with fachtna's wife nessa and married her as long as her son conchobar could rule the thrown for one year. After a year the people still wanted conchobar to rule due to his great abillity to rule. Fergus let conchobar keep the throne as he preffered to be a millitary leader of the red branch. He also raised Chuchulainn when he was born and raised him to be a leader of the red branch. After conchobar had killed the sons of Uisnech and one of fergus's sons against Fergus's wishes Fergus and a small band left Ulster and joined conchobar's enemy Connacht. He took place in the ulster cattle raid and became a lover of queen Medb and is killed by connacht for she was ailill's wife and conall cernach avenges him and kills ailill. (1) Cuchulainn- The most famous of the Celtic heroes within the Red Branch was Cuchulainn, despite being born from mortal parents he was related to Lugh the sun god and Dugda the good god. When he was young he killed a great hound that belonged to the smith culann. He was destined to live a short life but become the greatest celtic hero that ever lived. He recieved training from Fergus and used the kings spears and chariot. He had single handedly defeated Medb and he army when they attacked ulster. He had also survived against the war-goddess morrigan when he refused to love her and won a duel against an evil druid Calatin. He married Emer daughter of the chieftan fogall, he had many affairs but Emer wasn't concerned until he met Fand who was the wife of a sea/magic god. Medb caused Cuchulainn to go mad by sending him demons from Calatin. After eating dog meat send by morrigan he was cured. He died at twenty seven at the hands of Lugaid who speared and beheaded him but was avenged by Conall Cernach. (1)

Conall Cernach- He was the second greatest warrior of the Red Branch only to Cuchulainn. He was the son of Amorigin and Findchaem and served as a champion to Conaire Mor and defended the city until he was forced to retreat from the city and leave the king to die. Ulster and Connacht had fought over a prized hound and whoever had a warrior that had done greater deeds would win the boar. Cet Mac Maga claimed that Conall was a better warrior than him but his brother Anluan was better than Conall. Conall told him that he was truly superior and lifted Anluans head to show him, Conall and Cet fought and Conall killed him and would have won the hound but it was killed during the fight so no one won. He avenged Cuchulainns death by killing Lugaid and bringing Cuchulainns body back to the city for a proper burial. He also avenged Fergus by ki lling Ailill. (1) = = =Sianna= Finn Mac Cumhaill- The most famous Celtic hero within Sianna, he was born from Cumhaill and Muirenn. Muirenn fled into a forest when he was born because Cumahail had been slain by Goll Mac Morna and Lia. As Finn grew older he went through severe training set up by the Fianna and soon his clan rejoined the Fianna and Finn became the chieftan. He fell in love with a woman named Sadb who a dark duid also loved and he kidnapped her and Finn never saw her again, fortunatly he found their son Oisin. Many different stories depict his death, some say he was killed by five men and others say he just slept in the underworld until Ireland faced great peril. (2)

Cumhaill- He was the leader of the Baiscne clan and bore the famous warrior Finn Mac Cumhaill. Before Finn was born Cumhaill fought a great clan battle over the leadership of Fianna. Goll Mac Morna and Tadg worked together to overthrow Cumhaill and rule Fianna together. Tadg began to weaken Cumahaill with his magic which greatly contributed to his death. He still managed to cut out one of Goll's eyes and significantly weaken him but was eventually killed by Lia lord of Luachar. (2)

Diarmait- He was the adopted son of Angus Og and companion of Finn Mac Cumhaill. When he was born his father killled his wife and her lover Roc. He brought the boy back to love as a wild boar and ordered it to find Diarmait and kill him. Cormac Mac Airt send his lovely daughter Grainne to marry Finn but she loved Diarmait instead and married him. Finn tracked them down many years but finally forgave him for taking his bride after sixteen years of turmoil. One day a magic boar had been spotted near Tara and Diarmait assisted Finn in the hunt. The boar mortally wounded Diarmait and he died of his wounds. (2)

=High Kings= Conaire Mor- He was the greatest king of Ulster during the period of king Conchobar. He removed his stepfather Eterscel from the throne as the king of Ireland. Through his period of rule Ulster experienced great sucess and peace, until he was removed from rule by his brothers after they pillaged his kingdom. Fate seemed to conspire against him when he refused to punish his brothers for their crimes and met his end at the hands of a savage band of pirates. (3)

Conn Cetchathach- He was the king of Ireland before Finn Mac Cumahail was born. No one knew who his parents were although they were fairly certain they were Femlimid Rechtaid and Medb Lethderg. He became a king by killing Cathair Mor and destroying his kingdom, he married his daughter shortly afterward. Conn hired Goll Mac Morna to kill Cumhail and promoted him after Cumhail's death. Conn was said to have been killed by Ulster soldiers who disguised themselves as women and killed him. (3) Cormac Mac Airt- He was the ruler of Ireland during the period that Finn was captain of Fianna. He was always thought of as a great and powerful leader ruling with wisdom. One day a warrior offered Cormac three golden apples in exchange for three wishes and Cormac accepted. The first wish was for his daughter, the second his son, and the third for his wife. He allowed all but the third wish and he was lost in a sudden mist. He was welcomed in by a stranger who offered to feed him but due to fate he could not eat until he was in a gathering of fifty. He fell asleep and when he awoke he was among fifty that included his wife and kids. He ruled for a long period of time afterwards until his son succeeded him from the throne. (3)

Resources 1. Joe, Jimmy. Red Branch. Timelessmyths. 11 august, 1999. http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/redbranch.html 2. Joe, Jimmy. Sianna. Timelessmyths. 25 november, 1999.http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/fianna.html 3. Joe, Jimmy. High Kings. Timelessmyths. 11 august, 1999. http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/highkings.html