Túathal Techtmar (Old Irish:[ˈtuːaθalˈtʲextṽar]; 'the legitimate'),[1] son ofFíachu Finnolach, was aHigh King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition. He is said to be the ancestor of theUí Néill andConnachta dynasties through his grandsonConn of the Hundred Battles. The name may also have originally referred to an eponymous deity,[2] possibly even a local version of theGaulishToutatis.[3]
Túathal was the son of a former High King deposed by an uprising of "subject peoples" who returned at the head of an army to reclaim his father's throne. The oldest source for Túathal's story, a 9th-century poem byMael Mura of Othain, says that his father, Fíacha Finnolach, was overthrown by the four provincial kings,Elim mac Conrach ofUlster, Sanb (son ofCet mac Mágach) ofConnacht, Foirbre ofMunster and Eochaid Ainchenn ofLeinster, and that it was Elim who took the High Kingship. During his rule Ireland suffered famine as God punished this rejection of legitimate kingship. Túathal, aided by the brothers Fiacha Cassán and Findmall and their 600 men, marched on Tara and defeated Elim in battle at the hill ofAchall. He then won battles against theLigmuini, theGailióin, theFir Bolg, theFir Domnann, theUlaid, theMuma, theFir Ól nÉcmacht and theÉrainn, and assembled the Irish nobility at Tara to make them swear allegiance to him and his descendants.[4][5]
Later versions of the story suppress the involvement of the provincial nobility in the revolt, making the "subject peoples" the peasants of Ireland. TheLebor Gabála Érenn[6] adds the detail of Túathal's exile. His mother,Eithne Imgel, daughter of the king ofAlba (originally meaning Britain, later Scotland), was pregnant when Fíachu was overthrown, and fled to her homeland where she gave birth to Túathal. Twenty years later Túathal and his mother returned to Ireland, joined up with Fiacha Cassán and Findmall, and marched on Tara to take the kingship.
TheAnnals of the Four Masters[7] features a similar revolt a few generations earlier, led byCairbre Cinnchait, against the High KingCrimthann Nia Náir. On this occasion Crimthann's sonFeradach Finnfechtnach is the future king who escaped in his mother's womb, although the Annals claim he returned to reclaim his throne only five years later. The story repeats itself a few generations later with Elim's revolt against Fíachu, and the exile and return of Túathal.Geoffrey Keating[8] harmonises the two revolts into one. He has Crimthann hand the throne directly to his son, Feradach, and makes Cairbre Cinnchait, whose ancestry he traces to theFir Bolg, the leader of the revolt that overthrew Fíachu, killing him at a feast. The pregnant Eithne flees as in the other sources. Cairbre rules for five years, dies of plague and is succeeded by Elim. After Elim had ruled for twenty years, the 20- or 25-year-old Túathal was prevailed upon to return. He landed with his forces at Inber Domnainn (Malahide Bay). Joining up with Fiacha Cassán and Findmall and their marauders, he marched onTara where he was declared king. Elim gave battle at the hill ofAchall near Tara, but was defeated and killed.
Túathal fought 25 battles against Ulster, 25 against Leinster, 25 against Connacht and 35 against Munster. The whole country subdued, he convened a conference at Tara, where he established laws and annexed territory from each of the four provinces to create the central province ofMíde (Meath) around Tara as the High King's territory. He built four fortresses in Meath:Tlachtga, where thedruids sacrificed on the eve ofSamhain, on land taken from Munster;Uisneach, where the festival ofBeltaine was celebrated, on land from Connacht;Tailtiu, whereLughnasadh was celebrated, on land from Ulster; and Tara, on land from Leinster.
He went on to make war on Leinster, burning the stronghold of Aillen (Dún Ailinne) and imposing thebórama, a heavy tribute of cattle, on the province. One story says this was because the king of Leinster, Eochaid Ainchenn, had married Túathal's daughter Dairine, but told Túathal she had died and so was given his other daughter, Fithir. When Fithir discovered Dairine was still alive she died of shame, and when Dairine saw Fithir dead she died of grief.
Túathal, or his wife Baine, is reputed to have built Ráth Mór, anIron Agehillfort in the earthwork complex atClogher,County Tyrone. He died in battle againstMal mac Rochride, king ofUlster, at Mag Line (Moylinny nearLarne,County Antrim). His son,Fedlimid Rechtmar, later avenged him.
TheAnnals of the Four Masters gives the date of Túathal's exile as AD 56, his return as 76 and his death as 106.Geoffrey Keating'sForas Feasa ar Érinn broadly agrees, dating his exile to 55, his return to 80 and his death to 100. TheLebor Gabála Érenn places him a little later, synchronising his exile with the reign of theRoman emperorDomitian (81–96), his return early in the reign ofHadrian (122–138) and his death in the reign ofAntoninus Pius (138–161).
The scholarT. F. O'Rahilly suggested that, as in many such "returned exile" stories, Túathal represented an entirely foreign invasion which established a dynasty in Ireland, whose dynastic propagandists fabricated an Irish origin for him to give him some spurious legitimacy. In fact, he proposed that Túathal's story, pushed back to the 1st or 2nd century BC, represented the invasion of theGoidels, who established themselves over the earlier populations and introduced theQ-Celtic language that would becomeIrish, and that their genealogists incorporated all Irish dynasties, Goidelic or otherwise, and their ancestor deities into a pedigree stretching back over a thousand years to the fictitiousMíl Espáine.[9]
Professor Dáithí Ó hÓgáin reckoned his Celtic name wasTeutovalos ('tribe-ruler') and he was a great leader of the northern branch of the Venii tribe, or the 'people of Condos' who overthrew the kingship of the Lagini at Tara. When the genealogies were written a few centuries later his name was noted as 'Tuathal', and the epithetteachtmhar, a Celtic compound meaning 'appropriator of wealth' was added referring to his followers large-scale raids on the British coast.[10] The Venii's special designation for themselves became Gaídhil, i.e. Goidels, and their principal groups were called Connachta and Eoghanacht.[11]
Taking the native dating as broadly accurate, another theory has emerged. The Roman historianTacitus mentions thatAgricola, while governor ofRoman Britain (AD 78–84), entertained an exiled Irish prince, thinking to use him as a pretext for a possible conquest of Ireland.[12] Neither Agricola nor his successors ever conquered Ireland, but in recent yearsarchaeology has challenged the belief that the Romans never set foot on the island. Roman and Romano-British artefacts have been found primarily in Leinster, notably a fortified site on the promontory ofDrumanagh, fifteen miles north ofDublin, and burials on the nearby island ofLambay, both close to where Túathal is supposed to have landed, and other sites associated with Túathal such as Tara and Clogher. However, whether this is evidence of trade, diplomacy or military activity is a matter of controversy. It is possible that the Romans may have given support to Túathal, or someone like him, to regain his throne in the interests of having a friendly neighbour who could restrain Irish raiding.[5][13] The 2nd-century Roman poetJuvenal, who may have served in Britain under Agricola, wrote that "arms had been taken beyond the shores of Ireland",[14] and the coincidence of dates is striking.
| Feradach Finnfechtnach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fíachu Finnolach | Eithne Imgel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Túathal Techtmar | Baine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dairine | Eochaid Ainchenn | Fithir | Fedlimid Rechtmar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conn Cétchathach | Eochaid Finn | Fiacha Suigde | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uí Néill | Connachta | * | * | Dal Fiachrach Suighe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | High King of Ireland LGE 2nd century AD FFE AD 80–100 AFM AD 76–106 | Succeeded by |
