Macha’s Family Tree

About Macha →

Family

• Ernmas(parent),Badb(sibling),The Morrigan(sibling)

  Ernmas bore the three war goddesses of the Tuatha Dé Danann — the Morrígan, Badb, and Macha — terrible sisters who haunted battlefields in the shapes of crows and drove warriors to frenzy or foretold their doom.

• Nuada Airgetlám(spouse)— Marriage

  Macha was the wife of Nuada Airgetlám, and she fell alongside him in the Second Battle of Moytura when Balor's forces overwhelmed the Tuatha Dé Danann's king.

  ⚠ Macha appears in multiple distinct iterations across Irish sources — as wife of Nemed, wife of Nuada, and wife of Cruinniuc. The Lebor Gabála Érenn identifies this Macha specifically as Nuada's consort.

Aspect of

• The Morrigan

  Macha manifests as the sovereignty face of the Morrígan, binding kingship to the land — she cursed the men of Ulster with the pangs of childbirth and gave her name to Emain Macha, the royal seat of the Ulaid.

  ⚠ Lebor Gabála Érenn lists Macha as a separate daughter of Ernmas alongside the Morrígan. Multiple distinct figures named Macha appear across Irish texts, and their conflation into a single aspect of the Morrígan remains debated.

Slain by

• Balor

  Balor of the Evil Eye slew Nuada Airgetlám and his wife Macha at the Second Battle of Moytura, his poisonous gaze cutting down the king and queen of the Tuatha Dé Danann before Lugh could fulfill the prophecy and strike Balor down in turn.

Associated with

• Cú Chulainn

  Macha's curse on the men of Ulster — forcing them to suffer the pangs of childbirth in their hour of greatest need — left Cú Chulainn as the sole defender of the province during the Táin, as his divine blood exempted him from her affliction.