Editing Conn of the Hundred Battles (section)

===Reign===
Conn had a long reign – twenty, twenty-five, thirty-five or even fifty years according to different versions of the ''Lebor Gabála'', spending much of it at war with [[Mug Nuadat]], king of [[Munster]].

According to the medieval text ''Cath Maige Leana'' ("the battle of Mag Leana"), Mug Nuadat's father, Mug Neit son of Deirgtine, had expelled the kings of Munster, [[Conaire Coem]] and [[Mac Niad mac Lugdach]]. The two kings fled to Conn, and married his daughters, Saraid and Sadb respectively. Mug Neit made war on Conn, but was defeated and killed after two battles in [[County Offaly]]. Mug Nuadat led his father's forces in retreat through Munster, fighting Conn to a standstill before escaping by sea to Beare Island (in Irish, ''Oiléan Béarra,'' now called [[Bere Island]]), and thence to Spain. Conn restored Conaire and Mac Niad to their kingdoms and withdrew.

Nine years later, Mug Nuadat, who had married the daughter of the king of Spain, landed with an army near [[Bantry Bay]] and forced Conaire and Mac Niad to submit to his overlordship. With the kings of Ulster and Leinster, he marched north to Mag nAi and forced Conn to make a treaty with him, dividing Ireland between them: Conn controlling the north, or ''[[Leath Cuinn|Leth Cuinn]]'' ("Conn's half"), and Mug Nuadat the south, or ''Leth Moga'' ("Mug's half"), with the border running from [[Galway]] in the west to [[Dublin]] in the east.

After fifteen years of peace, Mug Nuadat broke the treaty and declared war, along with the kings of Ulster and Leinster. He led his army to Mag Leana, near [[Tullamore]], County Offaly. Conn retreated to Connacht, gathered his forces, and retook [[Kingdom of Mide|Meath]] from the king of Ulster. He then marched south to Mag Leana and destroyed Mug Nuadat's army in a surprise night attack on his camp. Mug Nuadat was killed in the fighting, and Conn became king of all of Ireland.<ref>[[Eugene O'Curry]] (ed. & trans.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=tLtGIYDpHowC&dq=the+battle+of+Magh+Leana&pg=PA17 Cath Mhuighe Léana, or The Battle of Magh Leana], Dublin: The Celtic Society, 1855</ref>

Geoffrey Keating tells the story differently. In his account, Mug Nuadat obtains an army from the king of Leinster and expels the kings of Munster, here Lugaid Allathach, Dáire Dornmhor and Aonghus. Aonghus flees to Conn, who gives him an army with which to reclaim his kingdom, but Mug Nuadat defeats this and a further nine attempts by Conn to drive him out of Munster, forcing Conn to divide Ireland with him. When hostilities break out again, Conn and Mug Nuadat's armies gather for battle at [[Mag Lena]], but Conn kills Mug Nuadat in his bed in an early morning attack.<ref>[[Geoffrey Keating]], ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text050.html 1.40]</ref>

According to a medieval source, the hero [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]] was born in Conn's time. His father, [[Cumhall]], a warrior in Conn's service, was a suitor of [[Muirne]], daughter of the druid [[Tadg mac Nuadat]], but Tadg refused his suit, so Cumhall abducted her. Conn went to war against him, and Cumhall was killed by [[Goll mac Morna]] in the Battle of Cnucha. But Muirne was already pregnant, and Tadg rejected her, ordering her to be burned. She fled to Conn, and Conn put her under the protection of Cumhall's brother-in-law Fiacal mac Conchinn. It was in Fiacal's house that she gave birth to a son, Deimne, who was later renamed Fionn.<ref>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/f01.html "The Cause of the Battle of Cnucha"], [[Tom Peete Cross]] & Clark Harris Slover (eds.), ''Ancient Irish Tales'', Henry Holt & Co, 1936, pp. 357–359</ref> When he was ten, Fionn came to Tara put himself into Conn's service. He learned that every year at [[Samhain]], the monster [[Aillen]] would put everyone at Tara to sleep with his music, and burn down the palace with his fiery breath. Fionn killed Aillen, having kept himself awake by pressing the head of his spear to his forehead, and warded off Aillen's flame with his magical cloak, and Conn made him head of the ''[[fianna]]'' in place of Goll.<ref>Standish James O'Grady (trans.), ''[http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/colloquy_ogrady.pdf The Colloquy with the Ancients]'', In Parentheses Publications, pp. 46–48</ref>