Lugaid Mac Con, often known simply as Mac Con, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the

Corcu Loígde The Corcu Loígde (Corcu Lóegde, Corco Luigde, Corca Laoighdhe, Laidhe), meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Mun ...

, and thus to the

Dáirine The Dáirine (Dárine, Dáirfine, Dáirfhine, Dárfine, Dárinne, Dairinne), later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde and associated, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They ...

. His father was Macnia mac Lugdach, and his mother was

Sadb ingen Chuinn Sadb ingen Chuinn was a daughter of Conn of the Hundred Battles, a High King of Ireland. She married firstly Macnia mac Lugdach, prince of the Dáirine or Corcu Loígde, and was mother of Lugaid Mac Con, High King of Ireland. Upon the death of Ma ...

, daughter of the former High King Conn Cétchathach. Mac Con may be to some extent identical with another legendary

King of Tara The term Kingship of Tara () was a title of authority in ancient Ireland - the title is closely associated with the archaeological complex at the Hill of Tara. The position was considered to be of eminent authority in medieval Irish literatur ...

from the Dáirine,

Lugaid Loígde Lugaid Loígde "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", also known as Lugaid mac Dáire, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland. He is a son of Dáire Doimthech, ancestor of the Dáirine, and gives his epithet to their principal royal sept, t ...

. After Macnia died, Sadb married

Ailill Aulom Ailill Ollamh (or Oilill Olum) in Irish traditional history was the son of Mug Nuadat and was a king of the southern half of Ireland, placed in the 3rd century by early modern Irish genealogy. Sadb ingen Chuinn, daughter of Conn of the Hundred B ...

, king of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

and ''de facto'' king of the southern half of Ireland, and Lugaid became his foster-son. He is said to have gained his patronymic/epithet ("dog's son") after he was suckled as a child by a

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgen ...

called Eloir Derg, which belonged to his foster-father. Lugaid and his stepbrothers, against Ailill's will, were allies of Nemed, son of Sroibcenn, king of the

Érainn The Iverni (, ') were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis (, ') in their territory, and observes that this se ...

of Munster, who had killed the former High King

Conaire Cóem Conaire Cóem ("the beautiful"), son of Mug Láma, son of Coirpre Crou-Chend, son of Coirpre Firmaora, son of Conaire Mór, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, the 111th High King of Ireland. He came to power on the d ...

in the battle of Gruitine. During the reign of the High King Art mac Cuinn, Conaire's sons defeated and killed Nemed in the battle of Cennfebrat. Lugaid was wounded in the battle, and afterwards was exiled from Ireland by his foster-father. Spending a number of years in exile, made an alliance with Benne Brit, son of the king of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, raised an army of foreigners, and returned to Ireland. He defeated and killed Art in the Battle of Maigh Mucruimhe in Connacht and took the High Kingship. He ruled for thirty years until he was driven from the throne by Art's son Cormac after he gave a false judgement on Bennaid, a female hospitaller, whose sheep had illegally grazed on the queen's woad. He fled to Munster to seek help from his relatives. He attempted to make his peace with his foster-father, Ailill Aulom, but Ailill had not forgiven him for the death of his son

Éogan Mór In Irish traditional history Eógan (or Eoghan Mór—a name also used by his grandfather, Mug Nuadat), eldest son of Ailill Ollamh, was a 2nd or 3rd century AD king of Munster. He is credited with founding or at least giving his name to the ...

, and bit him with a poisoned tooth when they embraced. He then sent the poet Ferches mac Commáin after Lugaid to take revenge for Éogan. Ferchis found Lugaid standing with his back to a standing stone, and killed him with a spear. Cormac was unable to take the throne directly, being forced to flee to Connacht by the king of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, Fergus Dubdétach, who held the High Kingship for a year after Lugaid's death. The ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...

'' synchronises Lugaid's reign with that of the Roman emperor Commodus (180–192). The chronology of

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and ...

's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates his reign to 173–203, that of the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or mediev ...

'' to 195–225. He had two sons, Fothad Cairpthech and Fothad Airgthech, who would later be joint High Kings. Modern descendants of Lugaid mac Con include the O'Driscolls, O'Learys, Coffeys,

Hennessy Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France. It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ...

s and

Flynn Flynn is an Irish surname or first name, an anglicised form of the Irish ''Ó Floinn'', meaning "descendant of Flann" (a byname meaning "reddish (complexion)" or "ruddy"). The name is more commonly used as a surname rather than a first name. ...

s of

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

.O'Donovan 1849 Also the eminent family of O'Cuirnin Professors in Poetry History and Law to the Court of O'Ruairc (O'Rourke) of the ancient Principality of Breffni. The senior descendants of this Sept are resident still in the townland of Dowra in the County of Cavan within the boundary of their ancient fiefdom. Latterly, the name has been anglicised to Cornyn and the current head of the family is Aidan Cornyn Esq of La Rochelle, France.

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Mumu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Con Legendary High Kings of Ireland

See also

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