Eochu Apthach

For other people with the same name, see Eochaid.

Eochu (or Eochaid) Apthach ("outlaw" or "fatal")[1] of the Corcu Loígde of County Cork, a distant descendant of Breogán, the father of Míl Espáine, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing the previous incumbent, Bres Rí. He only ruled for a year, and it is said there was a plague every month during that year. He was killed by Finn mac Blatha, a descendant of Ollom Fotla. The Lebor Gabála Érenn synchronises his reign with that of Darius the Great of Persia (522–485 BC).[2] The chronology of Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to 726–725 BC,[3] that of the Annals of the Four Masters to 953–952 BC.[4]

Preceded by
Bres Rí
High King of Ireland
LGE 6th/5th century BC
FFE 726–725 BC
AFM 953–952 BC
Succeeded by
Finn mac Blatha

References

  1. Dictionary of the Irish Language, Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, 1990, p. 46
  2. R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed. & trans.), Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V, Irish Texts Society, 1956, p. 247-249
  3. Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 1.26
  4. Annals of the Four Masters M4247-4248
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.