Macha an ancient Goddess in the Ulster cycle, In this story , I was told as a child, she was appeared mysteriously on the doorstep of a farmer called Cruinniuc and she agreed to become his wife on the conditionthat he tells not a soul who she really is. He is invited by the King and Chieftains. She agrees to accompany him to these annual games. but only if he doesn't mention that she is in fact a Goddess, or how fast and swift she is, , but ,..... of course Cruinniuc boasts and brags during a Chariot race about how his wife can run faster than even the Kings horse , Well now, the King being challenged about his prize horses demands that she races there and then, even though she is heavily pregnant. on pain of Cruinniucs death, she agrees to race and outruns the horsesc easily, and then gives birth to her twins, a girl Fiál and a boy Fír on the race field But because they would not wait until after she had birthed the children , she placed a curse on the men of Ulster . This curse came back to haunt them in the battle of the Brown Bull of Cooley, or the Táin Bó Cuailnge.
Artist Patricia Mc Ateer