Ness (Irish mythology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ness is an Ulster princess and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.

She was the daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide, king of Ulster. According to one version of the legend, she once asked the druid Cathbad what that day was a good day for, and he replied that it was a good day to conceive a king. There were no other men around, so Ness took Cathbad to bed, and Conchobar was conceived.

In another version, Ness was brought up by twelve foster-fathers. Cathbad, who was a warrior leading a landless band of twenty-seven men before he became a druid, led a raid on her foster-fathers' house, killing them all. Ness swore revenge and became a warrior herself, leading her own band of twenty-seven to try and find the culprit. However, one day she went off on her own to bathe. Cathbad came upon her alone and unarmed and demanded her as his wife. She had no choice but to agree. They married, and in due course Ness bore a son, Conchobar, who was brought up as Cathbad's son although his true father may have been Ness's lover, Fachtna Fáthach, the High King of Ireland.

By the time Conchobar was seven, Fergus mac Róich was king of Ulster, and he fell in love with Ness. She consented to marry him on one condition - that he abdicate his kingship for a year in favour of Conchobar, so that his children would be able to call themselves the children of a king. Fergus consulted with his nobles, and they advised him that the boy would be king in name only, so he agreed. But Conchobar, advised by his mother, was so crafty at distributing wealth and gifts that when the year was up, the Ulstermen wouldn't have Fergus back, and Conchobar kept the kingship.

Ness was also the mother, by incest with Conchobar, of Cormac Cond Longas.