Q

QUEENS
Just as there were several different levels of kingship
in early Ireland, so are there instances where the title
“queen” is applied to women at all levels of the royal
hierarchy: the wives of petty kings, of provincial kings,
of the Uí Néill kings of Tara, and of the later high
kings of Ireland. The title usually bestowed is “queen
of a king,” although there are some instances where
the outright title of “queen” is used. Most of the latter
instances involve women who fall into the rare cate-
gory of wives who predeceased their husbands, a
pattern that may indicate Irish queenship denoted a
distinct office rather than merely being the king’s wife.
Possibly, there could have been only one queen of a
kingdom at any given time, so that when a king died
his widow became simply “queen of a king,” with the
wife of her husband’s successor becoming
the
queen.
Alternatively, since many of the instances involving
the outright title of “queen” are later than those involv-
ing “queen of a king,” it has been suggested that the
switch may indicate an elevation in the status of Irish
queenship over time.
Other evidence indicating that Irish queenship may
have been a distinct office include the existence of
specific mensal lands that seem to have been assigned
to queens, and the phenomenon that no matter how
many wives a king was known to have had, the
Annals
of Ulster
mostly record obits for only one queen per
king, and never accord the title of either “queen” or
“queen of a king” to more than one wife of the same
king. Perhaps, then, a king could have only one des-
ignated queen per reign, and any other spouse was
regarded simply as the king’s wife.
While Irish queenship may have been a distinct
office, historical Irish queens did not—despite depic-
tions of the legendary pre-Christian queens Medb and

Macha as strong monarchs in their own right—rule

independently of their husbands. This is not to say,

however, that the women were powerless. Both histor-

ical and literary accounts attest to their involvement in

politics, acknowledging that the counsel of royal

women, both solicited and not, could influence their

husbands’ and sons’ actions considerably. The frequently

noted presence of queens on their spouses’ royal cir-

cuits and military hostings would have facilitated

greatly their direct involvement in royal affairs.

Back at home, an important function of the queen

appears to have been the provision of hospitality at her

husband’s court. Other dimensions of the queen’s role

included patronage of the church, as both a benefactor

of religious institutions—for many queens seem to

have had considerable personal wealth—and an inter-

cessor between the church and her husband. If the evi-

dence of later bardic compositions may be applied to

pre-Norman queens, the queen’s role included patron-

age of poets as well.

Perhaps most important of all was the queen’s

function as a partner in interdynastic alliance. Her

participation in a royal marriage was intended to

cement or inaugurate a political alliance between her

family and that of her husband, both in the generation

of the union itself and in that of any children resulting

from the marriage, for motherhood constituted

another major element of Irish queenship. Multiple

marriages were very common among both kings and

queens, with divorce and death contributing to marital

careers encompassing what seems to have been an

average of three partners per spouse.

A particularly fascinating aspect of the involvement

of queens in multiple marriages is that in situations

involving a switch in dynastic power within a kingship,

the new king not infrequently married the widow of