Cairenn Chasdub; Caireann ("curly-black (hair)") was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, the daughter of Sachell Balb, king of the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, the second wife of the Irish

High King A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of emperor. Similar titles include great king and king of kings. The high kings of history usually ruled over lands of cultural unity; thus ...

Eochaid Mugmedón Eochaid Mugmedón () was a legendary Irish king. According to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, Eochaid was a High King of Ireland, best known as the father of Niall of the Nine Hostages and ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta ...

, and the mother of

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall Noígíallach (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...

. When she was pregnant with Niall, Eochaid's first wife

Mongfind Mongfind (, literally "fair/white hair") is a figure from Irish legend. She is said to have been the wife, of apparent Munster origins, of the legendary High King Eochaid Mugmedón and mother of his eldest three sons, Brión, Ailill and Fiachr ...

was jealous and made her do heavy labour, hoping to make her miscarry. She gave birth beside a well as she was drawing water, and, out of fear of Mongfind, left the baby exposed to the birds. But the child was rescued and brought up by a poet called Torna. When the child, Niall, grew up he returned to Tara and relieved his mother of her labour, and went on to become High King himself. Tom Peete Cross & Clark Harris Slover (eds.)
"The Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon"
''Ancient Irish Tales'', 1936, pp. 508-513Tom Peete Cross & Clark Harris Slover (eds.)

''Ancient Irish Tales'', 1936, pp. 514-517 Given Niall's dates (he is traditionally supposed to have died around the turn of the 5th century, although modern historians place him half a century later), Francis J. Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Second Edition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001, Chapter 5 it is anachronistic for his mother to have been a Saxon, but O'Rahilly argues that the name ''Cairenn'' is derived from the Latin name

Carina Carina may refer to: Places Australia * Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura Serbia * Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District ...

, and that it is plausible that she might have been a Romano-Briton. T. F. O'Rahilly, ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', 1946, Chapter 12 Indeed,

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 ...

describes her not as a Saxon but as the "daughter of the king of Britain".

, ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'
1.48
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References

Cycles of the Kings Women of medieval Ireland 5th-century Irish people 5th-century Irish women {{celt-myth-stub