Mug Nuadat
The genealogical material identifies him with Eogan Taidlech and notes that he was called Mug because he had been fostered by Nuadu mac Darfine mac Bairr while he was engaged in making a bond or surety. The same tradition gives him a place among the rulers associated with Munster before the rise of his descendants. The sources place Mug Nuadat within the royal genealogy of Éber, tracing the Munster dynasties back through Ailill Aulom, his son, and the later Éoganachta. One account says that Ailill Aulom was the son of Mug Nuadat and that Mug Nuadat fathered Ailill Aulom and Lugaid Laga.
Dateline
The genealogical material identifies him with Eogan Taidlech and notes that he was called Mug because he had been fostered by Nuadu mac Darfine mac Bairr while he was engaged in making a bond or surety. The same tradition gives him a place among the rulers associated with Munster before the rise of his descendants.
Lineage Name
The sources place Mug Nuadat within the royal genealogy of Éber, tracing the Munster dynasties back through Ailill Aulom, his son, and the later Éoganachta. One account says that Ailill Aulom was the son of Mug Nuadat and that Mug Nuadat fathered Ailill Aulom and Lugaid Laga. Another tradition explains that Mug Nuadat was also known as Eogan Taidlech. His name is connected in the texts with his fosterage under Nuadu, and this explanation is offered as the reason he was called Mug. The genealogical lists then use his line to explain later Munster dynasties and their branches, rather than treating him as an isolated figure.
Munster Kingship
In the historical narratives preserved in the Irish tradition, Mug Nuadat is described as king of Munster, and at times as one of the paired rulers of Ireland. The Annals of Inisfallen say that Ireland was divided between Mug Nuadat, king of Munster, and Conn Cétchathach, between the two Áth Cliath. The same body of tradition places Mug Nuadat in rivalry or contemporaneity with Conn, making him part of the large cycle of Munster and Connacht kingship material. Another source states directly that Mug Nuadat and Conn Cétchathach were contemporaries and that Mug Nuadat held kingship together with Conn until he fell at Mag Léna.
Shared Rule
In the tale of Ailill Aulom and Mac Con, the text says that there was a covenant between Lugaid and Ailill Aulom, and between their descendants after them, that when Ailill’s descendants held kingship, Lugaid’s descendants should hold the judgeship, and when Lugaid’s descendants held kingship, Ailill’s sons should hold the judgeship.
Dynastic Legacy
Mug Nuadat’s importance in the tradition lies in his descendants and the dynastic map that follows from them. The genealogies say that he left two sons, Ailill Aulom and Lugaid Laga. From Ailill Aulom came Eogan Mór, Cian, Cormac Cass, and other sons whose descendants are associated with the Éoganachta, the Ciannachta, and Dál Cais. The same sources also connect Munster political geography and royal descent with his line, listing many groups descended from Éber and from the Munster branch associated with Mug Nuadat. In this way, Mug Nuadat is presented as a foundational ancestor for later Munster kingship traditions.
Traditional Setting
What can be said with confidence from the surviving material is that Mug Nuadat belongs to the legendary royal prehistory of Ireland. The texts present him as a Munster king, the father of Ailill Aulom, the ancestor of major Munster dynasties, and a counterpart to Conn Cétchathach in the inherited picture of Ireland’s division. His place in the tradition is inseparable from the genealogies and origin stories that later writers used to explain Munster’s kingship and descent.
Source References
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