Macha- Celtic GodDeity"Mong Ruad"

Macha Mong Ruad

Macha Mong Ruad, Red-Haired Macha, claimed the kingship of Ireland when her father Aed Ruad died and his two co-rulers attempted to exclude her from the rotation of power. She defeated her rivals in battle and forced the sons of one of them to build her royal fortress, extracting their labour as the price of their fathers' treachery. The site they built became Emain Macha, the capital of Ulster and seat of its kings for the duration of the heroic age.

The Curse of Macha

A mysterious woman came to the house of the widower Cruinniuc and lived with him as his wife, bringing prosperity to his farm. She moved with inhuman speed and was clearly of supernatural origin, but she asked only that Cruinniuc never speak of her abilities. At a festival, Cruinniuc boasted that his wife could outrun the king's horses. Conchobar mac Nessa demanded proof, and though Macha was heavily pregnant, she was compelled to race. She won, but as she crossed the finish line she gave birth to twins and screamed in her agony. With her dying cry she cursed the men of Ulster: whenever they faced their hour of greatest need, they would be struck with the pangs of childbirth for five days and four nights. This curse, the ces noínden, would afflict all Ulstermen for nine generations.

War Goddess

Macha also appears alongside Badb and the Morrígán as one of the triple war goddesses, haunting battlefields and presiding over the slaughter. Severed heads collected by warriors were called "Macha's acorn crop." Her name survives in Armagh, Ard Macha, the Height of Macha.