set in the early Christian period, specifically the sixth
and seventh centuries, and center on conflicts between
what would now be called Church and State. Further-
more, almost all the examples follow the same narra-
tive pattern, which at its core consists of three main
stages: (1) A crime is committed against the Church;
(2) a prophecy that the offender will die a threefold
death is pronounced; and (3) the prophecy is fulfilled
as the offender dies in the manner foretold. Death,
then, is seen as divine retribution for sins against God
and his Church. Like the aidedaset in the pagan past,
death in these stories comes at the instigation of human
and cosmic forces as a result of the hero’s actions.
DANM. WILEY
References and Further Reading
Bhreathnach, Máire. “The Sovereignty Goddess as Goddess of
Death?”Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie39 (1982):
243–260.
Green, Miranda J. The World of the Druids. London: Thames
and Hudson Ltd, 1997.
Jackson, Kenneth. “The Motive of the Threefold Death in the
Story of Suibne Geilt.” In Féil-sgríbhinn Éoin Mhic Néill,
edited by John Ryan. Dublin: Three Candles Press, 1940.
Mac Cana, Proinsias. The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland.
Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1980.
Melia, Daniel. “Remarks on the Structure and Composition of
the Ulster Death Tales.” Studia Hibernica17–18 (1978):
36–57.
Meyer, Kuno. The Death-Tales of the Ulster Heroes. Dublin:
Royal Irish Academy, 1906.
Ó Cathasaigh, Tomás. “The Threefold Death in Early Irish
Sources.” Studia Celtica Japonica, New Series 6 (1994):
53–75.
Radner, Joan Newlon. “The Significance of the Threefold Death
in Celtic Tradition.” In Celtic Folklore and Christianity:
Studies in Memory of William W. Heist, edited by Patrick K.
Ford. Santa Barbara, Calif: McNally and Loftin, 1983.
Rees, Alwyn, and Brinley Rees. Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tra-
dition in Ireland and Wales. London: Thames and Hudson
Ltd, 1961.
Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise. Gods and Heroes of the Celts, trans-
lated by Myles Dillon. London: Methuen & Co, Ltd, 1949.
Ward, Donald J. “The Threefold Death: An Indo-European
Trifunctional Sacrifice?” In Myth and Law among the Indo-
Europeans, edited by J. Puhvel. Berkeley: University of Cal-
ifornia Press, 1970.
Wiley, Dan M. “Stories About Diarmait mac Cerbaill from the
Book of Lismore.” Emania19 (2002): 53–59.
See alsoDiarmait mac Cerbaill; Comperta;Echtrai;
Historical Tales; Pre-Christian Ireland; Prophecies
and Vaticinal; Ulster Cycle
AÍFE
In 1170, Aífe, daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada,
married Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, the Anglo-Norman
baron better known as Strongbow. Their union fulfilled
one half of the promise made by Mac Murchada in
return for Strongbow’s help in regaining his lost king-
dom of Leinster. Strongbow’s succession to that king-
ship upon Mac Murchada’s death in 1171 fulfilled the
other half.
Strongbow’s succession has traditionally been seen
as running contrary to both Irish and English practice.
English law held that only in the absence of male heirs
could a man succeed in right of his wife, but Mac
Murchada had at least one son living in 1171. It has
been suggested, however, that Mac Murchada may have
regularized his marriage with Aífe’s mother under
canon law, thereby rendering Aífe his only legitimate
offspring alive at that time. In terms of Irish tradition,
it has been further suggested that a precedent of sorts
for Strongbow’s succession lay in the twelfth-century
phenomenon of imposing dynasts upon thrones to
which they had no ancestral claim. Marrying the daugh-
ter of one’s predecessor was, moreover, a common
characteristic of peaceful transfers in Irish dynastic
control.
Styling herself “Countess of Ireland,” Aífe issued
charters concerning both her native Leinster and, fol-
lowing Strongbow’s death in 1176, her English dower
lands. The earl was initially succeeded by the cou-
ple’s son, Gilbert, who died in 1185 while still a
minor, leaving their daughter Isabella as sole heiress.
In 1189, history repeated itself when William Mar-
shal married Isabella, and succeeded to Leinster in
right of his wife.
ANNE CONNONReferences and Further Reading
Flanagan, Marie Therese. Irish Society, Anglo-Norman Settlers,
Angevin Kingship: Interactions in Ireland in the late 12th
century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
See also Anglo-Norman Invasion; Kings and
Kingship; Leinster; Mac Murchada, Diarmait;
Marriage; Strongbow; Tánaiste; Ua Tuathail
(O’Toole), St. LawrenceAILECH
Ailech, or the Grianán of Ailech, was the caput,or
principal royal seat of the early medieval Northern Uí
Néill kings of Cenél nÉogain, until they moved their
headquarters to Tulach Óc in the kingdom of Airgialla
at the beginning of the eleventh century. The place-
name Ailech was also used as the distinguishing
sobriquet of the Northern Uí Néill dynasty. Ailech is
popularly identified as a large multi-period fortification
situated on Greenan Mountain at the southern end of the
Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal. However, Elagh,
which is an Anglicized form of “Ailech,” in nearbyAILECH