Page 51 - Demo

Chapter two 51
bull of Cuailgne (Cooley). Armed with this knowledge, a furiously jealous Meadhbh secretly despatched an emissary to the chieftain of Cuailgne requesting the loan of the bull, in order that her herd might surpass that of her husbands’. And since it was natural that the chieftain might not be of a mind to loan his precious bull, he was invited to come with the animal to Meadhbh’s Connacht Court, at Rath Croghan, present day Tulsk, in modern Roscommon, with the promise of being royally entertained, so long as the bull remained on loan.
Unsurprisingly, the request was granted; but unfortunately, later that night Meadhbh’s swaggering emissary was overheard foolishly boasting that if the request had been denied, the Queen of Connacht would have marched her army to Cuailgne and taken him, anyway. The account of the boasting was relayed back to the bull’s owner, who immediately ordered the emissary back to Connacht-minus the bull. Enraged, Queen Meadhbh quickly mobi- lised a mighty army with the intention of invading Ulster, which was enemy ground to her, anyhow, but also for the forcible carrying of of the brown bull of Cuailgne. Her army con- sisted of all the Connacht forces, most notably, the Fir Domnainn, The Knights of the West, the war-like descendants of the Fir Bholg, under their leader, and Meadhbh’s champion the youthful Ferdiad-pronounced ‘Ferdia,’ son of Daman of the Gamhanraidh –‘Gawanree.’ Also among the ranks were the armies of her allies from the other three-ifths of Ireland, alongside a ine and splendid body of malcontent exiled Ulster warriors. Led by Fergus