Cóiced Medba – A Landscape of Medb

Lecture by Mike McCarthy

Friday 27th October 2023 at 8pm

Sligo Education Centre (on ATU Sligo Campus)

The literary character of Queen Medb looms large in the Irish psyche and she is known to one and all as the great leader of the Connacht and Irish armies in our National Epic tale, An Táin Bó Cúailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley).
But was she a flesh and blood Warrior Queen, or was she perhaps an echo of early female divinity portrayed in human form?
This talk will examine some of these aspects of Medb and her associations with the landscape of the province of Connacht, particularly her links with the sites of Rathcroghan in Co. Roscommon and Knocknarea in Co. Sligo.

Lecturer

Mike McCarthy is a Tour Guide, Research Assistant and Deputy Manager of the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre. He has co-authored a number of publications pertaining to Rathcroghan, including ‘Slí Seandálaíochta Ráth Cruachan‘ – The Rathcroghan Archaeological trail and ‘Rathcroghan – The Guidebook’ originally published in 2019, with a Second Edition in 2023.