Editing Macha (section)

==Macha, wife of Cruinniuc==
Macha, daughter of Sainrith mac Imbaith, was the wife of [[Cruinniuc]], an Ulster farmer. Some time after the death of Cruinniuc's first wife, Macha appears at his house. Without speaking, she begins [[Housekeeping|keeping the house]] and acting as his wife. Soon she becomes pregnant by him. As long as they were together Cruinniuc's wealth grew. When he leaves to attend a festival organised by the king of Ulster, she warns him that she will only stay with him so long as he does not speak of her to anyone, and he promises to say nothing. However, during a chariot race, he boasts that his wife can run faster than the king's horses. The king orders Cruinniuc be held on pain of death unless he can make good on his claim. Although she is heavily pregnant, Macha is brought to the gathering and the king forces her to race the horses. She wins the race, but then cries out in pain as she gives birth to twins on the finish line; a boy named Fír ("True") and a girl named Fial ("Modest").<ref name=dindsenchas-rennes-094-Ard_Macha/> For disrespecting and humiliating her, she curses the men of Ulster to be overcome with weakness—as weak "as a woman in childbirth"—at the time of their greatest need. This weakness would last for five days and the curse would last for nine generations. Thereafter, the place where Macha gave birth would be called ''Emain Macha'', or "Macha's twins".<ref name=noinden_ulad>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/debility.html |title=The Debility of the Ulstermen |access-date=20 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226141502/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/debility.html |archive-date=26 December 2013 |url-status=<!--not dead-->}}</ref><ref name=noinden_ulad-hull/>

This tale, ''The Debility of the Ulstermen'' (''[[Noínden Ulad]]'') explains the meaning of the name ''Emain Macha'', and explains why none of the Ulstermen but the semi-divine hero [[Cúchulainn]] could resist the invasion of Ulster in the ''[[Táin Bó Cuailnge]]'' (Cattle Raid of [[Cooley peninsula|Cooley]]).<ref name="koch"/><ref name=noinden_ulad-hull/> It shows that Macha, as goddess of the land and sovereignty, can be vengeful if disrespected,<ref name="green"/> and how the rule of a bad king leads to disaster.<ref>Fee, Christopher and Leeming, David. ''The Goddess: Myths of the Great Mother''. Reaktion Books, 2016.</ref>

This Macha is particularly associated with horses—it is perhaps significant that twin colts were born on the same day as Cúchulainn, and that one of his chariot-horses was called [[Liath Macha]] or "Macha's Grey"—and she is often compared with the [[Welsh mythology|Welsh mythological]] figure [[Rhiannon]].<ref name="koch"/>