The Death of Conchobar
Also known as: Aided Conchobuir, Aided Chonchobuir, The Death of Conchobor, The Death of Conchubor, Aided Conchobair
Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa lives for years with a brain-ball lodged in his skull, struck there by the Connacht champion Cet. Upon hearing of Christ’s crucifixion, he erupts in rage and the wound bursts; his blood is said to baptize him as he dies, fusing heroic lore with Christian salvation history.
Description
This short Ulster Cycle death-tale (aided) recounts how Conchobar mac Nessa survives a catastrophic head wound when physicians set in his skull the calcified brain of Mesgegra, warning him to avoid anger and excess. Years later, news reaches Emain Macha of the Passion of Christ. Conchobar’s fury at the injustice breaks the delicate healing, the brain-ball bursts, and he dies. Medieval redactors interpret the king’s blood as a baptism, aligning the pagan hero with Christian grace. The tale weaves political enmity between Ulster and Connacht, the renowned boasting of Cet mac Magach, and the medical lore of Ulster’s leeches, while exemplifying the genre’s penchant for tragic endings and retrospective Christianization.
Historiography
The tale is preserved in Middle Irish, with principal witnesses associated with the twelfth-century manuscript tradition (e.g., Lebor na hUidre and related compilations), reflecting scribal Christianization of earlier heroic material. Variants emphasize either the surgical setting of Mesgegra’s brain-ball or the pathos of Conchobar’s end. Early editors and translators (Stokes; Cross & Slover) established a standard English title. Modern scholarship situates the piece among aided-type death-tales within the Ulster Cycle.
Date Notes
Survives in Middle Irish redactions; Christianized framing likely added by monastic compilers.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Conchobar mac Nessa
- Cathbad
- Fergus mac Róich
- Cú Chulainn
Myths
- The Brain-Ball in Conchobar’s Skull
- Conchobar’s Death upon Hearing of Christ
- Apotheosis of the Ulster King
Facts
- Genre: aided (death-tale) within the Ulster Cycle.
- Conchobar’s head wound is sealed with the calcified brain of Mesgegra, sewn with gold.
- Physicians warn Conchobar to avoid anger, leaping, and sexual excess to keep the brain-ball stable.
- The tale links Irish heroic lore to the Passion by reporting news of Christ’s crucifixion.
- Conchobar dies when the brain-ball bursts as he rages at the injustice.
- The narrative presents his death as a form of baptism, a hallmark of Christian redaction.
- Cet mac Magach is the Connacht warrior who originally struck the fatal blow.
- The setting centers on Emain Macha, royal seat of Ulster.
- Some versions note Conall Cernach’s subsequent hostility toward Cet.
- The story exemplifies interprovincial Ulster–Connacht enmity typical of the cycle.