Macha Mong Ruad

• High detail fine art print. 210 x 297mm paper (A4)
• Printed on heavyweight 200gm card
• Signed

Macha is an Irish sovereignty goddess, primarily associated with the province of Ulster, most notably at Emain Macha (Navan Fort) in Co. Armagh. She is one of the three Morrígna, a triad of sisters given as Badb, Macha, and the Morrígan. These goddesses are connected to the land, fertility, battle, crows, and horses. She is mentioned in a variety of manuscripts, in a variety of forms, who each represent a different element of the goddess.

One of the most well-known tales involves Macha, as Cruinniuc's wife, who is forced by a king to race against his horses while heavily pregnant and gives birth to twins at the finish line. She then exacts revenge on Ulster's men for the humiliation by cursing them to a woman's birth pangs, a curse that would last for nine generations.

This illustration depicts Macha Mong Ruad ("Macha of the Red Hair"), who established Emain Macha, the circular ceremonial hilltop site for healing and ceremony. According to archaeology, the earthen mound was formed by filling a large roundhouse akin to a temple in a ritual act with stones, burning it down, and then covering it with earth. On this stood a massive ceremonial roundhouse with oak pillars and an entrance facing the setting sun. Nearby she had constructed a ceremonial body of water where votive offerings were cast.

This indicates that Macha had a profound understanding of how to heal, interwoven with a strong connection to the earth and the cycles of life and death. The roundhouse's orientation toward the setting sun implies a symbolic connection to solar cycles for ritual.