Once, the Ulstermen
were drinking at the house of Fedlimid mac Daill, Conchobor's storyteller.
Fedlimid's wife, who was heavily pregnant, was serving and looking after
them, and the house was soon in drunken uproar. When it was time
to sleep, the woman went to her bed, but as she crossed the floor of the
house the child in her womb gave a shriek that could be heard throughout
the household. On hearing this, the men started up, chin to chin. Sencha mac Ailella
said, 'Calm down, all of you! Bring the woman here, and let's find out what
that noise was.' So the woman
was brought before them, and Fedlimid said, 'What was that dreadful, piercing
cry from your womb? It terrifies me.' She turned to
Cathbad, for he was wise. 'Cathbad, help
me. I bow before your great druid knowledge. I can't answer my husband's
question, even though the noise came from my own body. No woman knows what
she carries in her womb.' 'In the cradle
of your womb,' said Cathbad, 'cries out a woman with twisted, golden hair,
beautiful green eyes, cheeks flushed like foxglove, blood-red lips, and
teeth whiter than snow. Many a blow will be dealt among Ulster's chariot
warriors because of her. She will be tall, lovely, long-haired. Heroes will
fight over her, High Kings will seek her hand. Then, west of Conchobor's
kingdom, a harvest of fighting men. High Queens will envy those perfect
teeth, framed in blood-red lips, that matchless, faultless form.' Cathbad put his
hand on the woman's belly and felt the baby moving. 'Yes,' he said, 'it's
a girl. Her name is Deirdre, and evil will follow her.' When the baby
was born, Cathbad spoke again. 'You may have
beauty and renown, Deirdre daughter of Fedlimid, but the men of Ulster will
suffer great destruction at your hands. Woman like flame, because of you
will come death, and the exile of Uisliu's three sons. In your lifetime
a great crime will be committed at Emain, and there will be plenty of time
for repentance as mighty Fergus mac Róich brings ruin. Woman of fate, because
of you Fergus will be exiled from Ulster, and many will mourn for Fiachna
son of Conchobor. Woman of fate, because of you Gerrce son of Illadan will
fall, and a terrible crime will be committed by Eogan mac Durthacht. Harsh,
hideous deeds will come at the anger of Ulster's great king. Yours will
be a famous tale, Deirdre.' 'Kill the child!'
said the warriors. 'No,' said Conchobor.
'I will bring her away with me tomorrow, and she will be brought up as I
see fit. She will be my companion.'   None of
the Ulstermen dared oppose him, so that's what happened. She was brought
up by Conchobor, and grew up to be the most beautiful woman in Ireland.
She was raised in a court apart, so that no Ulstermen would see her before
she was ready for Conchobor's bed. No-one was allowed in except her foster-parents,
and Leborcham, who was a satirist and went where she wanted.

One winter's
day, Deirdre's foster father was skinning a weaned calf for her in the snow
outside, and she watched as a raven drank the blood from the snow. 'That's the kind
of man I want,' she said to Leborcham, 'with those three colours: hair like
the raven, cheeks like the blood, and a body like the snow.' 'Best of luck
to you,' said Leborcham. 'There's a man like that not far away, very close
by indeed - Noísiu son of Uisliu.' 'I'll be ill
until I can see him, then,' said Deirdre. One day, Noísiu
happened to be at the wall of the stronghold of Emain, standing alone and
singing. The sons of Uisliu had very melodious voices. Every cow that heard
them sing gave two thirds more milk, and every man was filled with peace
and calm by their music. They were also great fighters - if they stood back
to back, they could hold off the entire province of Ulster - and could run
as fast as hunting hounds, catching and killing wild animals in flight.
Deirdre slipped
out to where Noísiu was, and walked past him, pretending not to recognise
him. 'That's a fine
heifer going by,' he said. 'The heifers
are bound to be fine where there are no bulls,' replied Deirdre. 'But you have
the chief bull of the province, the king of Ulster himself,' said Noísiu.
'Between the
two of you,' said Deirdre, 'I'd rather have a young bull like you.' 'You can't!'
said Noísiu. 'What about Cathbad's prophesy?' 'You're rejecting
me, then?' 'Yes, I am.'
Deirdre leapt
at him, and seized him by the ears. 'Two ears of shame and mockery,' she
said, 'unless you take me away with you!' 'Leave me alone,
woman!' 'Too late!' Noísiu gave a
musical war-cry. The men of Ulster heard it, and one by one rose up against
him. Uisliu's other two sons went out to restrain their brother. 'What do you
think you're doing?' they said. 'The men of Ulster are taking up arms because
of you!' So Noísiu told
them what had happened. 'Evil will come of this,' said his brothers. 'Still,
we won't see you shamed as long as we're alive. We'll take her away to another
country - there's not a king in Ireland who would turn us away.' And that's what
they decided to do. They left that night, with three fifties of warriors,
and three fifties of women, and the same number of hounds and servants,
with Deirdre hidden amongst them. For a long time, they found protection
with kings all over Ireland, from Ess Rúaid in the south-west to Benn Etair
in the north-east, despite the traps and treacheries Conchobor often set
to destroy them.   Eventally,
though, the Ulstermen drove them out of Ireland to Alba. There, they settled
in the wild places, and when they could no longer survive on game from the
mountains, they stole cattle. There came a day when the men of Alba came
together to destroy them, so they went to the king of Alba, and he took
them into his employ as mercenaries. They built their houses on green land,
in such a way that no-one could see Deirdre inside, for they were afraid
there might be violence on her account. However, early
one morning, a steward happened to come to the house, and he saw the couple
asleep. At once, he went and woke the king. 'We've never
found a woman worthy of you until now,' he said. 'But there is a woman with
Noísiu mac Uislenn worthy of the king of the western world! Have Noísiu
killed, and she can sleep with you.' 'No,' said the
king. 'But go to her every day, and woo her on my behalf.' So that's what
the steward did, but everything he said to her, she told to Noísiu the same
night. Since she was not forthcoming, the sons of Uisliu were sent into
battles and dangerous situations in the hope they might be killed, but they
were so tough that every attempt failed. Finally the men of Alba came together
to kill them. They told Deirdre, and she passed it on to Noísiu. 'You've got to
leave tonight!' she said. 'If you're still here tomorrow, they'll kill you!'
So that night,
Deirdre and the sons of Uisliu left Alba, and came to an island in the sea.
News of this
reached Ulster. The Ulstermen said to Conchobor, 'It would be a disgrace
if the sons of Uisliu were to die in a strange land because of a bad woman.
Better to forgive them, spare their lives, and bring them home under your
protection, than to have our enemies kill them.' 'Then let them
come,' said Conchobor, 'and let men go as guarantors.' This message
was taken to Noísiu and his brothers. 'This is good news,' they said. 'We
will come, so long as Fergus, Dubthach, and Cormac son of Conchobor are
our guarantors.' So these three
were sent to them, and brought them back over the sea. However, Conchobor
got the Ulstermen to waylay Fergus with invitations to ale-feasts. Fergus,
Dubthach and Cormac stayed behind, but the sons of Uisliu had sworn that
the first food they touched in Ireland would be Conchobor's, so they and
Deirdre went on ahead with Fergus's son Fiacha, until they arrived at the
green of Emain Macha. Eogan mac Durthacht
had come to Emain to make his peace with Conchobor, for the two of them
had been long-standing enemies, and it fell to him to kill the sons of Uisliu.
Mercenaries prevented them from coming before the king, and they stood in
the middle of the green, Fergus's son by Noísiu's side. The women of Emain
sat on the ramparts as Eogan and his troops crossed the green. Eogan welcomed
Noísiu with the point of his spear, which broke his back. Fiacha put his
arms around Noísiu, pulled him to the ground and covered him, so they had
to go through him to kill Noísiu. The sons of Uisliu
were hunted from one side of the green to another. None of them escaped
except by point of spear or edge of sword. Deirdre was brought to stand
beside the king, her arms tied behind her. When Fergus,
Dubthach and Cormac heard of this, they went straight to Emain and did mighty
deeds. Dubthach killed Mane son of Conchobor, and despatched Fiachna, son
of Conchobor's daughter Fedelm, with one blow. Fergus killed Traigthrén
son of Traiglethan and his brother. Conchobor was outraged, and battle broke
out between them. Three hundred Ulstermen fell that day. Dubthach slaughtered
the young women of Ulster, and Fergus burned Emain Macha. Then they went
into exile, to Connacht. They knew Ailill and Medb wold give them shelter
and hospitality, for the men of Connacht had no love for Ulster. The exiles
numbered three thousand, and for sixteen years they made sure there was
weeping and trembling every night in Ulster.

Deirdre lived
with Conchobor for a year, and during that time she neither laughed nor
smiled. She didn't eat enough or sleep enough, and she didn't lift her face
from her knees. If they brought musicians to her, or Conchobor tried to
comfort her, she would sing to them of Noísiu and his brothers, Arddán and
Ainnle, how they looked after her, and the sound of their singing, Noísiu's
baritone and Ainnle's high tenor. She sang of Noísiu's beauty and bravery,
and her despair at his death. She never let Conchobor forget who she blamed
for this. 'Tell me,' said
Conchobor, 'who is it that you hate the most?' 'You, of course,'
she said, 'along with Eogan mac Durthacht.' 'Very well,'
he replied. 'You can spend a year with Eogan.' And he sent her to live with
him. The next day,
they set out for the fair of Macha, Deirdre standing behind Eogan in the
chariot. She swore that she would never submit to both these men in one
place. 'Well, Deirdre,'
said Conchobor, 'between Eogan and me, you're a ewe eyeing two rams.' There was a big
block of stone in front of her. She drove her head against it, breaking
it into fragments, and died.