Muirne or Muireann Muncháem ("beautiful lips") was the sister of
Uirne and the mother of
Fionn mac Cumhail in the
Fenian Cycle of
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...
.
She had many suitors, but her father, the
druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
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, abducted her. Tadg appealed to the
High King,
Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn Cétchathach (; "of the Hundred Battles"), son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was a semi-legendary High King of Ireland and the ancestor of the Connachta, and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Irel ...
, 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, 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
Liath Luachra or the "Grey one of Luachair", is the name of two characters in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. Both appear in ''The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn'', which details the young life and adventures of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. Alfred Nu ...
, 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.
See also
*
Muirenn
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