Fiachu Muillethan (broad crown) or Fiachu Fer Da Liach (of the two sorrows), son of
Éogan Mór, was a legendary king belonging to the
Deirgtine, the proto-historical ancestors of the
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta (Modern , ) were an Irish dynasty centred on Rock of Cashel, Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of De ...
dynasties 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 is known primarily from the saga ''
Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire'', in which he is assisted by the famous
Mug Ruith, who repels an invasion of his kingdom by
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 ...
. The sons of Fiachu Muillethan were Ailill Flann Mór and
Ailill Flann Bec.
Like his father Éogan Mór, grandfather
Ailill Aulom, and great-grandfather
Mug Nuadat, Fiachu Muillethan appears to be mainly fictional. The circumstances of his life are entirely legendary, seemingly invented so as to provide the Eóganachta with an ancestral contemporary of Cormac mac Airt. This is apparent from the conception of Fiachu as described in the ''
Cath Maige Mucrama''.
While the career of Fiachu Muillethan may be entirely legendary, that of his supposed great-grandson
Conall Corc, the true founder of the Eóganachta, may preserve an amount of historical fact.
As in many such cases, ''Muillethan'' and ''Fer Da Liach'' may have started out two different figures later thought to be the same, whether mythological or historical. The medieval genealogists are at pains to assert they were identical but base their argument only on the story of Fiachu's birth in the ''Cath Maige Mucrama'', a well known saga of
political fiction
Political fiction employs narrative to comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fant ...
.
References
*
Francis John Byrne
Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian.
Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. A ...
, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings''. Dublin:
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably ...
. 2nd revised edition, 2001.
*
Thomas Charles-Edwards, ''Early Christian Ireland''.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
. 2000.
* Michael A. O'Brien (ed.) with intr. by John V. Kelleher, ''Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae''.
DIAS. 1976. / partial digital edition:
Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Donnchadh Ó Corráin (28 February 1942 – 25 October 2017) was an Republic of Ireland, Irish historian and professor emeritus of medieval history at University College Cork. He earned his BA in history and Irish from UCC, graduating in 1964.
...
(ed.)
Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502 University College, Cork
Corpus of Electronic Texts 1997.
* Seán Ó Duinn (ed. and tr.), ''Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire: The Siege of Knocklong''. Cork: Mercier Press. 1992.
* Dan M. Wiley
* Dan M. Wiley
* Dan M. Wiley
{{Refend
Legendary Irish kings
Cycles of the Kings