Texts

Scéla Conchobuir meic Nessa ‘The story of Conchobar mac Nessa’

  • Early Middle Irish
  • prose
  • Ulster Cycle
Medieval Irish saga concerning the career of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of the Ulaid
Language
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
The first three paragraphs are also found in Compert Conchobuir.
Related: Cles Con CulainnCles Con Culainn

A repertory of Cú Chulainn's feats, similar to that contained in Scéla Conchobuir meic Nessa.

Compert ConchobuirCompert ConchobuirThe story of the conception and birth of Conchobar mac Nessa.

Classification

Ulster Cycle
Ulster Cycle
id. 1797

Subjects

Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
king of the Ulaid in tales of the Ulster Cycle; son either of Cathbad or Fachtna Fáthach (father) and Ness (mother); husband of Mugain; father of Cormac Cond Longas, Cúscraid Mend Macha, Furbaide Fer Bend and Fedelm Noíchrothach; fosterfather of Cú Chulainn.

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Bricriu
Bricriu
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
hostel-keeper (briugu) in the Ulster Cycle of tales

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Cathbad
Cathbad
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
druid to Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, in the Ulster Cycle; husband of Ness and possible father of Conchobar mac Nessa.

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Conall Cernach
Conall Cernach
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
Warrior of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle; son of Amergin and Findchóem. In Irish genealogies, he is presented as an ancestor of the kings of the Dál nAraidi and the Uí Echach Coba.

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Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn
Young Ulster hero and chief character of Táin bó Cuailnge and other tales of the Ulster Cycle; son of Súaltam or Lug and Deichtire (sister to Conchobor); husband of Emer (ingen Forgaill)

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Fergus mac Róich
Fergus mac Róich
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
warrior in tales of the Ulster Cycle; former king of Ulster in exile in Connacht; Medb’s lover

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Ness ingen Echach Sálbuidi
Ness ingen Echach Sálbuidi
mother of Conchobar (mac Nessa), king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle, by the druid Cathbad; daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide, a previous king of Ulster

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Sources

Notes

Whitley Stokes, ‘Tidings of Conchobar mac Nessa’, Ériu 4 (1910): 18.

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[dipl. ed.] Best, Richard Irvine, and M. A. OʼBrien, The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála, vol. 2, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1956. xi + pp. 261-470 + 2 pl.
CELT – pp. 400-470: <link>
400–404 Diplomatic edition of the Book of Leinster version. direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “Tidings of Conchobar mac Nessa”, Ériu 4 (1910): 18–38.
Book of Leinster version
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], Lives of saints from the Book of Lismore, Anecdota Oxoniensia, Mediaeval and Modern Series, 5, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890.
CELT: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>, <link> Internet Archive: <link>
xxxiv–xxxv Book of Lismore version
[ed.] Hull, Vernam [ed.], “How Conchobar gained the kingship of Ulster”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 25 (1956): 243–245.
Book of Ballymote version
[tr.] Guyonvarc'h, Christian-J. [tr.], “La naissance de Conchobar. Version A”, Ogam 11 (1959): 56–65.
[tr.] d'Arbois de Jubainville, Marie-Henri [tr.], “[Various contributions]”, in: Marie-Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville (ed.), L’épopée celtique en Irlande, 5, Paris: Thorin, 1892. [Various].
Internet Archive: <link>
3–13 Book of Leinster version
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen, Patrick Brown
Page created
April 2011, last updated: January 2024