Names need their local context
This Ailill is Medb's partner at Cruachan. He should be distinguished from the lovesick brother of Étaín's husband and from Ailill Finn, Flidais's husband. The shared name does not make their actions interchangeable. In the selected preludes, the Connacht ruler helps organize the resources and alliances that will enable the cattle expedition.
Sources: The Raid for the Cattle of Regamon — Leahy translation; The Driving of the Cattle of Flidais — Leahy translation; The Courtship of Etain — Leahy translation · Táin Bó Regamon: opening council; Táin Bó Flidais: two Ailills; Courtship of Etain: Eochaid’s brother
A father’s test that becomes a trap
Ailill demands costly cattle and service in return for Findabair's marriage to Fráech. After the suitor refuses, he sends him into danger and throws away the ring that can incriminate his daughter. The recovered ring defeats the plan by making his manipulation public. The scene converts a supposed test of the young woman's fidelity into an exposure of the father's conduct.
Source: The Raid for the Cattle of Fraech — Leahy translation · Táin Bó Fraích, literal translation, first section: marriage price, swimming, ring demand and public explanation
Authority maintained through alliances
When Fergus is wounded in Ailill Finn's territory, the Connacht ruler must respond because the exiles are under his protection. Yet the campaign moves from relief to destruction and plunder. The story's closing notice then associates Fergus's death with his jealousy. Political protection and personal rivalry coexist, making the same relationship capable of sustaining and eventually endangering the exile.
Source: The Driving of the Cattle of Flidais — Leahy translation · Táin Bó Flidais, literal translation: relief of protected exiles, siege and concluding notice of Fergus’s death
- Period / witness
- Medieval Irish prose and verse preserved in medieval and early modern manuscript witnesses; Leahy translation 1905–1906.
- Recording context
- This entry concerns the literary version named in its passages, transmitted by Christian-era Irish manuscript culture and translated by A. H. Leahy. Legendary settings are not dates of composition or evidence for a single pre-Christian canon.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
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These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
The Raid for the Cattle of Regamon — Leahy translation ↗
Anonymous Irish literary narratives; translated and arranged by Arthur Herbert Leahy (1857–1928) · Volume II, 1906; Project Gutenberg eBook released May 2004 and updated 29 June 2026
Edition & rights noteThe Driving of the Cattle of Flidais — Leahy translation ↗
Anonymous Irish literary narratives; translated and arranged by Arthur Herbert Leahy (1857–1928) · Volume II, 1906; Project Gutenberg eBook released May 2004 and updated 29 June 2026
Edition & rights noteThe Courtship of Etain — Leahy translation ↗
Anonymous Irish literary narratives; translated and arranged by Arthur Herbert Leahy (1857–1928) · Volume I, 1905; Project Gutenberg eBook released May 2004 and updated 29 June 2026
Edition & rights noteThe Raid for the Cattle of Fraech — Leahy translation ↗
Anonymous Irish literary narratives; translated and arranged by Arthur Herbert Leahy (1857–1928) · Volume II, 1906; Project Gutenberg eBook released May 2004 and updated 29 June 2026
Edition & rights note