Furbaide Ferbend is a character from the
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...
of
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...
. Legend has it that Furbaide Ferbend was buried in a
passage grave
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europ ...
atop
Carn Clonhugh, more commonly known as Corn Hill or Cairn Hill, north
Longford
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...
, after the two passage graves that crown the summit.
Life
His father is
Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh). He is usually said to be the son of the High King Fachtna Fáthach, although in some stories ...
, king of the
Ulaid
(Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which ...
. His mother is one of the daughters of
Eochu Feidlech, the
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 ...
: in the saga ''Cath Boinde'' ("the battle of the
Boyne)
[ Joseph O'Neill, (ed. & trans.]
"Cath Boinde"
''Ériu
In Irish mythology, Ériu (; ), daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland.
The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic languages, Germanic (Old Norse or ...
'' v.2, 1905, pp.173-185 and the ''
Dindsenchas
''Dindsenchas'' or ''Dindshenchas'' (modern spellings: ''Dinnseanchas'' or ''Dinnsheanchas'' or ''Dınnṡeanċas''), meaning "lore of places" (the modern Irish word ''dinnseanchas'' means "topography"), is a class of onomastic text in early Irish ...
'' poem "Carn Furbaide"
[Edward Gwynn (ed. & trans.)]
"Carn Furbaide"
''The Metrical Dindshenchas'' Vol. 4, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1906 she is Eithne, in the saga ''Aided Meidbe'' ("the death of Medb") she is
Clothru.
[Vernam Hull (ed. & trans.)]
"Aided Meidbe: The Violent Death of Medb"
''Speculum'' v.13 issue 1, Jan. 1938, pp. 52-61 Eochu gave several of his daughters to Conchobar in marriage in compensation for Conchobar's supposed father, the former High King
Fachtna Fáthach, whom Eochu had killed in the Battle of Leitir Ruad.
In the sagas Furbaide's mother is murdered by her sister
Medb
Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méabh(a) () and Méibh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had ...
, Conchobar's former wife and the future queen of
Connacht
Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...
, in the poem by her nephew
Lugaid Riab nDerg, and her child is born by posthumous
Caesarian section.
''Cath Boinde'' explains the name ''Furbaide'' as deriving from
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
''urbad'', "cutting", and says his original name was Diarmaid.
According to the ''Dindsenchas'' Furbaide is described as smooth-skinned and bright of hue with two horns growing on his head, hence his epithet ''ferbend'', "horned man".
The glossary ''Cóir Anmann'' ("fitness of names") says the horns – two of silver and one of gold – were on his helmet.
[Whitley Stokes]
"Cóir Anmann (Fitness of Names)"
''Irische Text mit Wörterbuch'', Dritte Serie, 2 Heft, Leipzig: Verlag Von S. Hirzel, 1897, p. 288-411
At the age of seventeen he fights in Conchobar's army in the Battle of Gáirech and Ilgáirech at the end of the ''
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "the Irish ''Iliad''", although like most other earl ...
'' ("cattle raid of
Cooley").
[Cecile O'Rahilly, ''Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976, pp. 218, 227-228][Cecile O'Rahilly (ed. & trans.), ''Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of Leinster'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1967, p. 248, 261] In the saga ''Mesca Ulad'' ("the intoxication of the Ulaid"), where he is said to be
Cúchulainn's
foster-son, he fights against the
Erna, but he is so beautiful none of them can bring themselves to wound him.
[W. M. Hennessy (ed & trans), '' Mesca Ulad; or, the intoxication of the Ultonians'', Todd Lecture Series, 1889] After Conchobar's death his son
Cúscraid Mend Macha
Cúscraid (; var. Cumscraid) (pronunciation guides: /'ku:skrid m'eN 'maxa / () /cŏŏs'crĭ/ () /KOOS-kri''dh''/ (Paddy Brown)) known by the epithet ''Mend Macha'' (the "stammerer" or "inarticulate one" of Macha), is a son of Conchobar mac Nessa i ...
succeeds him as king of the Ulaid, and gives his brother Furbaide the regions of northern and southern
Tethbae.
[R. I. Best (ed. & trans.)]
"The Battle of Airtech"
''Ériu 8'', 1916, pp. 170-190
In later life, according to ''Aided Meidbe'', he avenges his mother's death. Medb had taken to bathing in a pool on the Shannon island of
Inchcleraun
Inchcleraun (), also called Quaker Island, is an island situated in Lough Ree on the River Shannon, in central Ireland.
The island is home to the ruins of St. Diarmaid's Monastery, a monastery founded by Diarmaid the Just in AD 560. These build ...
. Furbaide measures the distance from the pool to the shore with a rope, and practices with his sling until he can hit an apple on top of a stake from that distance. The next time he sees Medb bathing, he shoots the nearest missile to hand – a piece of cheese – at her, and kills her.
In the ''Dindsenchas'' poem he kills the mother of Lugaid Riab nDerg, and Lugaid pursues and kills him in revenge.
See also
*
Medb
Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méabh(a) () and Méibh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had ...
*
Cairpre Gabra
*
Carn Clonhugh
References
Primary references
Secondary references
*
{{refend
Ulster Cycle