Achtan, fl. c. 1st-2nd centuries AD, mother of

Cormac mac Airt Cormac mac Airt, also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings ...

Achtan and Art mac Cuinn

In the Irish

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

Cath Maige Mucrama The ''Cath Maige Mucrama'' (in English the Battle of Mag Mucrama) is an early Middle Irish language tale which forms part of the Cycles of the Kings. Content The cast includes several major figures from Irish pseudo-history, Ailill Aulom, his so ...

, Achtan is named as the daughter of Olc Acha of the

Crich Óic Bethra Crich is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. Besides the village of Crich, the civil parish includes the nearby villages of Fritchley, Whatstandwell and Wheatcroft. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 ce ...

, near what is now

Clarenbridge Clarinbridge or Clarenbridge () is a village in south County Galway, Ireland. It is on the mouth of the Clarin River at the end of Dunbulcaun Bay, which is the easternmost part of Galway Bay. The village is 13 km south-east of Galway cit ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. The night before the Battle of Mag Mucrama,

Art mac Cuinn Art mac Cuinn ("son of Conn"), also known as Art Óenfer (literally "one man", used in the sense of "lone", "solitary", or "only son"), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. Siblings According ...

he was a guest of Olc Acha, who asked him how many children he had. To ensure the survival of his bloodline in case of his death, Olc Acha proposed Art sleep with Achtan and conceive a son.

"It was then that Cormac was conceived. He (Art) told her she would bear a son and that that son would be king of Ireland. Then he told her of every hoard he had hidden for the benefit of that son. And he said that he would be killed the following day and he takes leave of her. He told her to bring her son for fostering to his friend among the Connachtmen. And on the following day he went to the battle."

Achtan gave birth to

, ancestor of the

Connachta The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasty, dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King of Ireland, High King Conn of the Hundred Battles, Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles). The modern western Provinces of ...

, making her ancestor of Irish dynasties such as

Uí Fiachrach The Uí Fiachrach () were a royal dynasty who originated in, and whose descendants later ruled, the ''coicead'' or ''fifth'' of Connacht (a western province of Ireland) at different times from the mid-first millennium onwards. They claimed descen ...

Uí Briúin The Uí Briúin were a royal dynasty of Connacht. Their eponymous apical ancestor was Brión, son of Eochaid Mugmedon and Mongfind, and an elder half brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages. They formed part of the Connachta, along with th ...

, Uí Ailello,

Muintir Murchada Muintir Murchada was the name of an Irish territory which derived its name from the ruling dynasty, who were in turn a branch of the Uí Briúin. The name was derived from Murchadh mac Maenach, King of Uí Briúin Seóla, who died 891. Overview ...

. Families descended from these dynasties include

MacDermot Mac Diarmada (anglicised as McDermott or MacDermot), also spelled Mac Diarmata, is an Irish surname, and the surname of the ruling dynasty of Moylurg, a kingdom that existed in Connacht from the 10th to 16th centuries. The last ruling king was T ...

O'Conor The O'Conor dynasty (Middle Irish: ''Ó Conchobhair''; Modern ) are an Irish noble dynasty and formerly one of the most influential and distinguished royal dynasties in Ireland. The O'Conor family held the throne of the Kingdom of Connacht up ...

Ó Cléirigh O'Cleary or O'Clery () is the surname of a Gaelic Irish family. It is one of the oldest recorded surnames in Europe It is related to Cleary (surname) and often Anglicized as Clark. Naming conventions The name has been Anglicised variously as ...

, O'Flaherty,

O'Dowd O'Dowd () is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Mayo and County Sligo. The clan name originated in the 9th century as a derivative of its founder Dubda mac Connmhach. The O'Dowd clan can be traced to the Doonfe ...

O'Shaughnessy Ó Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname of Irish origin. The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick. Their name derives from Seachnasach mac ...

, McGivergan and O Hynes.

Note

Sources

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External links

Translated text
of ''The Battle of Mag Mucrama'' at ancienttexts.org Cycles of the Kings {{ireland-noble-stub

Achtan and Art mac Cuinn

See also

Note

Sources

External links