Airgetmar, son of Sirlám, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

. The ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...

'' says that, during the reign of

Ailill Finn Ailill Finn, son of Art mac Lugdach, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. In the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', he succeeded to the throne when his father was killed by Fíachu Tolgrach and his s ...

, he killed Fíachu Tolgrach in battle, but was forced into exile overseas by Ailill's son Eochu, Lugaid son of

Eochu Fíadmuine Eochu Fíadmuine was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, joint High King of Ireland with his brother or half-brother Conaing Bececlach. They took power after killing the previous High King, Eochu Uairches. Eochu ruled t ...

, and the men of

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. He returned to Ireland after seven years, and, with the help of Dui Ladrach, killed Ailill. Eochu became king, but Airgetmar and Dui soon killed him as well, and Airgetmar took power.

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating (; – ) was an Irish historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became a Catholic priest and a poet. Biography It was generally believed unt ...

tells a slightly different story of Airgetmar's accession. Eochu withstood Airgetmar, made an alliance with Dui and ruled for seven years, but Dui treacherously killed him at a meeting and Airgetmar took the throne. He ruled for thirty years (according to the ''Lebor Gabála'' and the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

''),''

'
M4422-4452
/ref> or twenty-three or thirty-eight years (according to Keating), after which he was killed by Dui and Eochu's son

Lugaid Laigdech Lughaidh ( or ; ) is an Irish-language name, from Old Irish which is thought to be derived from the name of the god Lugh, Lug, generally anglicised as Louis (given name), Louis or Lewis (given name), Lewis. The name is prevalent among figures in ...

. Dui, who had now had a hand in the killing of four High Kings, took the throne. The ''Lebor Gabála'' synchronises his reign with that of

Artaxerxes III of Persia Ochus ( ), known by his dynastic name Artaxerxes III ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 359/58 to 338 BC. He was the son and successor of Artaxerxes II and his mother was Stateira. Before ascending the throne Artaxerxes was ...

(358–338 BC). The chronology of Keating's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates his reign to 570–547 BC, that of the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' to 778–748 BC.

References

Legendary High Kings of Ireland {{Ireland-royal-stub