Ailill

Also known as: Ailill mac Mata / Ailill the Great / Ailill the son of Magach / Ailill the son of Mata of Muresc / King Ailill · Family: Connaught · Role: ruler · First appears: The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1

Ailill ruled Connaught with Maev. In Mac Datho’s Boar, he and Maev sent for the hound; when the armies of Connaught and Ulster gathered at Mac Datho’s palace, the boar was slaughtered for them, and a dispute over its share led to fighting. Later, Ailill’s charioteer Fer-loga killed the hound as it seized the chariot poles.

In the two versions of The Exile of the Sons of Usnach, Fergus mac Rog and his companions came to Connaught seeking shelter, and were welcomed and supported by Ailill and Maev. At Cruachan in Táin Bó Fraích, Ailill and Maev received Fraech and his company. Ailill offered Findabair, his daughter, to Fraech on conditions involving a dowry and aid in the cattle raid; after a conflict over Fraech’s ring, Ailill and Maev made peace with him and agreed that he could marry Findabair on his return from Cualnge. Fraech later departed with his suite.

In the cattle-raiding tales, Ailill arranged for cattle to be brought to him and Maev, and sent their seven sons—the seven Maine—to seek cattle at Regamon. When the sons needed help at Ath Briuin, Ailill and Maev went to them with the men of Connaught and the banished men of Ulster. In The Driving of the Cattle of Flidais, Ailill sought a peaceful meeting with Ailill Finn and aimed to secure peace while protecting Fergus. After Fergus later went west to seek a story and a grant of cows, he died in Connaught through Ailill’s jealousy.