A house organized to display rank
Fráech's arrival produces a detailed description of the royal house at Cruachan, with differentiated places, costly materials, and central accommodation for Ailill and Medb. Leahy notes uncertainty about whether one architectural term means compartments or benches. The translation's rich interior should therefore be read as a literary presentation with lexical limits, not copied uncritically into an archaeological reconstruction.
Source: The Raid for the Cattle of Fraech — Leahy translation · Táin Bó Fraích, literal translation, first section: arrival, house description and note on imdai
The destination of livestock and news
In the Regamon raid, the daughters bring the herds to Cruachan while the young men remain under pressure at a ford. Their arrival carries the information that mobilizes help. The center's effectiveness depends on movements from outside: animals provision it, messengers inform it, and allied forces depart from it. Political power becomes visible through these practical exchanges.
Source: The Raid for the Cattle of Regamon — Leahy translation · Táin Bó Regamon, literal translation: daughters’ journey and relief expedition
Supernatural proximity without a complete map
Fráech's healing women take him to the síd of Cruachan, and the Morrígan's cow is associated with the same supernatural place. Those references place marvels close to the courtly geography. They do not supply a systematic map of another world or justify treating every mound as the same kind of destination. Each narrative gives the location a particular relationship to its action.
Sources: The Raid for the Cattle of Fraech — Leahy translation; The Apparition of the Great Queen to Cuchulain — Leahy translation · Táin Bó Fraích: healing women and síd; Táin Bó Regamna: cow’s origin and final return
- 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.
Explore time & place →Read the sources
These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
The 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 noteThe 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 Apparition of the Great Queen to Cuchulain — 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