Túathal Techtmar

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Túathal Techtmar (Old Irish: [ˈtuːaθal ˈtʲextṽar]; 'the legitimate'),[1] son of Fíachu Finnolach, was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition. He is said to be the ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties through his grandson Conn of the Hundred Battles. The name may also have originally referred to an eponymous deity,[2] possibly even a local version of the Gaulish Toutatis.[3]

Legend

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 by

Érainn, 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. The Lebor Gabála Érenn[6] adds the detail of Túathal's exile. His mother, Eithne Imgel, daughter of the king of Alba (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.

The

Tara where he was declared king. Elim gave battle at the hill of Achall
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 of Míde (

Beltaine was celebrated, on land from Connacht; Tailtiu, where Lughnasadh
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 the bórama, 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, an Iron Age hillfort in the earthwork complex at Clogher, County Tyrone. He died in battle against Mal mac Rochride, king of Ulster, at Mag Line (Moylinny near Larne, County Antrim). His son, Fedlimid Rechtmar, later avenged him.

Historical context

Dates

The Annals 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's Foras Feasa ar Érinn broadly agrees, dating his exile to 55, his return to 80 and his death to 100. The Lebor Gabála Érenn places him a little later, synchronising his exile with the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (81–96), his return early in the reign of Hadrian (122–138) and his death in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161).

The first of the Goidels?

The scholar

Q-Celtic language that would become Irish, 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 fictitious Míl Espáine.[9]

Professor Dáithí Ó hÓgáin reckoned his Celtic name was Teutovalos ('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 epithet teachtmhar, 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]

Romans in Ireland?

Taking the native dating as broadly accurate, another theory has emerged. The Roman historian

Juvenal, 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.

Family tree

Feradach Finnfechtnach
Fíachu FinnolachEithne Imgel
Túathal TechtmarBaine
DairineEochaid AinchennFithirFedlimid Rechtmar
Conn Cétchathach
Eochaid FinnFiacha Suigde
*
Dal Fiachrach Suighe

See also

References

  1. ^ Dictionary of the Irish Language, Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, 1990, p. 582. O'Rahilly (1946), p. 170, believed that Techtmar derived from techt ("going"), and meant "of the great journeying", "voyaging from afar", or the like, possibly even an Irish derivative of Toutatis.
  2. ^ Anne Ross Pagan Celtic Britain, Academy Chicago Publishers (1996), p. 225. Ross indicates the name may be derived from Teuto-valos meaning 'Ruler of the People'
  3. ^ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Teutates." Encyclopædia Britannica. January 07, 2018. Accessed April 13, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Teutates.
  4. ^ T. F. O'Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946, pp. 154–161
  5. ^ a b R. B. Warner, "Tuathal Techtmar: A Myth or Ancient Literary Evidence for a Roman Invasion?", Emania 13, 1995, pp. 23–32
  6. ^ R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed. & trans.), Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V, Irish Texts Society, 1956, pp. 307–321
  7. ^ Annals of the Four Masters M9-106
  8. ^ Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 1.38, 39, 40
  9. ^ O'Rahilly 1946, pp. 161–170
  10. ^ Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, "The Celts: A History", 2002, pp. 204-205.
  11. ^ Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, "The Celts: A History", pp. 211.
  12. ^ Tacitus Agricola 24
  13. ^ Vittorio di Martino, Roman Ireland, The Collins Press, 2006
  14. Satires 2.159–160

External links
Preceded by High King of Ireland
LGE 2nd century AD
FFE AD 80–100
AFM AD 76–106 		Succeeded by
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