Muirne or Muireann Muncháem ("beautiful neck") was the sister of Uirne and the mother of Fionn mac Cumhail in the

Fenian Cycle The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle () is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his Kóryos, warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. She had many suitors, but her father, the

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

Tadg mac Nuadat, had foreseen that her marriage would lead to the loss of his home on the hill of Almu, so he refused them all. But one of them, Cumhal, leader of the

fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young men, often from the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, "who had left fosterage ...

, abducted her. Tadg appealed to the High King,

Conn of the Hundred Battles Conn Cétchathach (), or Conn of the Hundred Battles, son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was a legendary High King of Ireland who is claimed to be the ancestor of the Connachta, and through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, w ...

, who outlawed and pursued Cumhal. Cumhal was killed in the Battle of Cnucha, but Muirne was already pregnant, so her father rejected her and told his followers to burn her. Conn prevented this, and sent Muirne into the protection of Fiacal mac Conchinn and his wife, the druidess

Bodhmall Bodhmall (or bodhmann, Bómall,''Dóiteoir na Samhna'', by Darach Ó Scalaí, Bodmall, or Bodbmall) is one of Fionn mac Cumhaill's childhood foster mothers in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology and the daughter of Tréanmór mac Suailt. She is ...

, who was Cumhal's sister. She gave birth to a son, whom she called Deimne, but who later became known as Fionn. Muirne left the boy in the care of Bodhmall and a warrior woman called Liath Luachra, who brought him up in secret in the forest. She went on to marry a local king, Gleor Lámderg, and saw her son again only once, six years later, when she came to visit him in the forest.

References

* T. P. Cross & C. H. Slover (eds) (1936), ''Ancient Irish Tales'' * James MacKillop (1998). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. London: Oxford. . Fenian Cycle {{Celt-myth-stub

See also

References