Emain macha

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
I've always loved the story of Macha, the Queen of Ulster...

Two queens named Macha are connected with the area. The less well known is Macha, the queenly wife of Cimbaeth, (circa 300 AD). Cimbaeth was dominated by his queen and it is said that she made him build a great fortress-palace in her honor. She marked out the area with her brooch, thus the folk etymology of "Emain Macha" meaning "Macha's brooch". The better known Macha was the wife of Crunniuc mac Agnomain. At a fair in Ulster, he boasted that his wife could beat a horse-drawn chariot in a foot race. Macha, pregnant and near delivery, protested but threatened with the death of the baby, she finally complied. She won the race, then birthed twins. In revenge, she cursed the men of Ulster to suffer her birth pangs for nine generations. Women, young boys and Cuchulainn (because he was not bred of Ulster stock) were exempt.
 

WoodNymph

New Member
Wow! That is one tough broad! Running (and winning) a foot race against a chariot while about to give birth to twins? No wonder she cursed the men!
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
One of my all time favorites.
In the Irish epic The Cattle Raid of Cooley, Cuchulainn has to single-handedly defend Ulster against the advancing army of Queen Maive of Connacht
until the Ulstermen's pangs subsided.
 

Isis

Member
I love the myth of Macha (the pregnant, running one). I don't blame her a bit for cursing the men of Ulster; that was a mean thing to do to her.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
And don't forget, I'm sure many women out there would love for men to feel what it is like to suffer from birth pangs!!
 
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