For the literary figure of Ruadán, son of Bres and Brigid, see Brigid

Brigid

In Irish mythology, Brigit or Brighid was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadán....

Ruadán mac Fergusa Birn was the founder and first abbot of the monastery of Lorrha

Lorrha

Lorrha is a small village at the northern tip of North Tipperary, Ireland. It is located on a local minor road between the R489 Birr to Portumna road and the N65 Nenagh to Portumna road about five kilometres east of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg. It is a townland and a civil...

 (Lothra, County Tipperary, Ireland), near Terryglass

Terryglass

Terryglass is a village in North Tipperary, Ireland. The village is located on the R493 regional road on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ormond Lower. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the...

. After his death, he was venerated as a saint and as one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland

Twelve Apostles of Ireland

The Twelve Apostles of Ireland were twelve early Irish monastic saints of the sixth century who studied under St Finian at his famous monastic school Clonard Abbey at Cluain-Eraird , now Clonard in County Meath.-Dá apstol décc na hÉrenn:The twelve saints are grouped together as such in the text Dá...

".

His embassy to King Diarmait mac Cerbaill

Diarmait mac Cerbaill

Diarmait mac Cerbaill was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ban-feis or marriage to goddess of the land....

 (d. 565) at Tara

Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...

, in 556, is worked into a legend known as the "Curse of Tara", but the high-king continued to reside at Tara till his death (564). The legend as to Tara's halls having been deserted after 564 is of comparatively late origin, and is contradicted by the fact that a Feis

Féis

A Feis or Fèis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are feiseanna and fèisean .-History:In Ancient Ireland communities placed great importance on local festivals, where Gaels could come together in song, dance, music, theatre and sport...

 was held at Tara in 697.

A bell

Bell (instrument)

A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...

 which bears his name is preserved in the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. He is said to have died at the monastery of Lorrha, 5 April 584. His feast is kept on the anniversary of his death.

Ruadán's prophecy

Ruadán gave the prophecy that Diarmait would be killed by the roof-beam of his hall at Tara. Diarmait had the beam cast into the sea. Diarmait then asked his druids to find the manner of his death, and they foretold that he would die of slaughter, drowning and burning, and that the signs of his death would be a shirt grown from a single seed of flax and a mantle of wool from a single sheep, ale brewed from one seed of corn, and bacon from a sow which had never farrowed. On a circuit of Ireland, Diarmait comes to the hall of Banbán at Ráith Bec, and there the fate of which he was warned comes to pass. The roof beam of Tara has been recovered from the sea by Banbán and set in his hall, the shirt and mantle and ale and bacon are duly produced for Diarmait. Diarmait goes to leave Banbán's hall, but Áed Dub, waiting at the door, strikes him down and sets fire to the hall. Diarmait crawls into an ale vat to escape the flames and is duly killed by the falling roof beam. Thus, all the prophecies are fulfilled.

Primary sources

• Aided Díarmata meic Cerbaill "The Violent Death of Diarmait mac Cerbaill
  Diarmait mac Cerbaill
  Diarmait mac Cerbaill was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ban-feis or marriage to goddess of the land....
  
  " (first version), ed. and tr. S.H. O'Grady, Silva Gadelica. London, 1892. Vol. I: pp. 72–82; vol. II: pp. 76–88. For details, visit Dan Wiley's Cycles of the Kings website.
• Aided Díarmata meic Cerbaill "The Violent Death of Diarmait mac Cerbaill
  Diarmait mac Cerbaill
  Diarmait mac Cerbaill was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ban-feis or marriage to goddess of the land....
  
  " (second version). For details, visit Dan Wiley's Cycles of the Kings website.
• Comlond Díarmata meic Cerbaill fri Rúadán "Díarmait mac Cerbaill's Contention with Rúadán". For details, visit Dan Wiley's Cycles of the Kings website.
• Betha Ruadhain (medieval Irish Life of Ruadán), ed. Charles Plummer et al. Bethada Náem nÉrenn. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922. Edition available online from CELT.

Secondary sources

• Byrne, Francis John, Irish Kings and High-Kings. B.T. Batsford, London, 1973. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8