AL-yil mahk MAH-ta
King consort of Connacht and Medb's husband, whose boast of equal wealth with his wife triggers the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
Ailill rules Connacht jointly with Medb from Cruachan, and it is his one advantage in their otherwise equal wealth — the bull Finnbennach — that wounds Medb's pride enough to launch the war for Ulster's rival bull. Through the Táin he rides alongside Medb, though the text repeatedly makes clear that the campaign, and its cunning, are hers more than his.
Ailill's own jealousy surfaces elsewhere in the wider tradition, most notably in tales of Medb's affairs with other men, including Fergus mac Róich during the exiled Ulster hero's time in Connacht.
Ailill appears in the Táin as a more cautious figure than Medb. In the opening scene, the "pillow talk", the two compare their possessions in bed and every item is matched until it comes to the bulls. Finnbennach, the White-Horned, had been born in Medb's own herd but refused to be led by a woman and went over to Ailill's, which is why he is the one thing she cannot match. That small detail makes Ailill's superiority literal and gives Medb her reason to seek Donn Cúailnge.
In the war itself he plays a supporting part, taking counsel, handing out tasks and sending men against Cú Chulainn at Medb's urging. His later reputation rests on the tales that follow the Táin. In Aided Fergusa he is behind the killing of Fergus mac Róich, and in one tradition he and Medb meet their own deaths at the hands of Ulster warriors, so the feud runs on after the cattle raid is over.
As a name: Ailill is still given to children today. See its meaning, pronunciation and popularity on NameCipher →
| Cycle | Entries here | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| The Mythological Cycle | 21 | The oldest of the four cycles, telling of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the successive invasions of Ireland. |
| The Fenian Cycle | 7 | Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna, set generations after the Ulster Cycle in a world of hunting, romance, and roaming adventure. |
| The Ulster Cycle | 12 | The heroic tales of Conchobar mac Nessa's court at Emain Macha, centered on Cú Chulainn and the great cattle raid of the Táin Bó Cúailnge. |
| The Historical Cycle | 1 | Also the Cycle of the Kings — legendary and semi-legendary tales of Ireland's High Kings, treated by medieval scribes as genuine national history. |
Ailill mac Máta is the King of Connacht and husband of Queen Medb, whose boastful comparison of his and Medb's wealth — and the discovery that she lacks one bull to match his — sets off the cattle raid at the heart of the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
Their argument over who owns more establishes that Medb is one bull short of equaling Ailill, and her refusal to be outdone by her husband is the personal motive that drives the entire invasion of Ulster in the Táin.
In later tradition, Ailill is killed by Conall Cernach of Ulster in revenge for Ailill's earlier killing of Fergus mac Róich, continuing the cycle of vendetta between Ulster and Connacht even after the main events of the Táin.