St. Mochoemóc, or "Caoimhín", is Cían, the god of the wild fringes, patron of travellers and hermits, protector of herds. Existing on a spectrum from the civil, sessile Cíarán to the wild madness of Suibhne Geilt, Caomhán regulates the marches of law and nature.

In the previous issue, I explored Cíarán and observed how there's a striking similarity in birth myth, narrative trope, and social interaction between his group and characters named Coemgen / Caomhán / Caoimhín - the "Cíans". We'll see some more of that, today. But as then, I will contend that these saints are not the same, though they may be aspects of one another.

This issue will also concern the other main Cían saint, Coemgen of Glendalough. I just can't help it, Cían's a cool god and deserves the attention. Also, Mochoemóg by himself is easily confused with Cíarán, so I felt he needed some reinforcement.

Today's "Patterns" deals with some of the oddities of Saintly Genealogy and how I navigate them.

By the way: the various spellings "Caoi-" "Coe-" etc. sound like "Kwee". The name Coemgen sounds like Caoimhín sounds like (English) "Kwee-Veen". The pet-name "Mochoemóg" has the Gaelic "ch" - a sound that English-speakers often struggle with - I'll forgive you if you want to pronounce it like (English) "Mukwee-vogue".

The Conceptions of Cían and Conchobhar

In my issue on Saint Íta and the Mórrígan, I discussed the birth-myth of Mochoemóg, because it was relevant to discussing whether Íta's sister Ness had some relationship with the Ulster Cycle character, Neasa.

(Aside: the names Neasa and Ness are probably fully interchangeable, but I'll use them distinctly in this essay: Ness = Íta's sister, Neasa = Ulster Cycle warrior/queen/water-mother)

Neasa's conception-of-Conchobhar myth has a few details that I want to pull out for study:

1. She is reluctant to marry the Druid-Fenian Cathbad; she's forced to accept his proposal at sword-point after being ambushed.
2. The myth of Conchobhar's conception comes in several forms, but a common trope is the idea that he's 'secretly' Fachtna Fathach's son, not Cathbad's. Elaboration is not provided.

Back to Mochoemóg, and we find a very curiously similar pattern. His mother, Ness, does not want to marry but her sister Íta makes her marry the artisan, Beoán. And, their ability to conceive is initially impaired, but when they finally do conceive, she has a strangely intimate interaction with basically a Fachtna: Saint Féichín, the ambivalently sexual character from issue 4 (wherein I modelled Fachtnas as being a flavour of the Fiach[rn]a group of characters).

In Ness' version, Féichín is sent to find "Beoán's Wife" by an angel, as her breastmilk can cure his blindness. On his way to ask Íta who the heck "Beoán" might be, he and his monks happen across Ness by happy accident. But, as she's still pregnant and cannot give him milk yet, he just miracles at her and, uh.. "her breasts poured out milk abundantly". Notably, he then "blesses" her "conception".

In one of these myths, Fachtna is the father of the child after Cathbad marries Ness - in godly pairings, this might be interpreted to suggest that Cathbad is infertile (1), though this isn't stated. In Ness & Beoán's case, the couple are infertile, though this might be a "Beoán" mytheme because we see at least one other craftsman-god who's infertile over in Greece: Hephaestos. At any rate, Fachtna's interference in Neasa & Cathbad's conception seems to line up with Féichín's bizarre interference with Ness' pregnancy - including his blessing upon the unborn Mochoemóg.

Another detail of Ness' pregnancy I examined in Íta's issue is how her childbirth scene resembles that of Macha - I do have thoughts as to whether that links to Cían in some way, but it's too speculative to detail here (yet). There's also a mytheme where Mochoemóg's father dies in battle and Ness and Íta must find his corpse amid the carnage (2), but I'm not sure this mytheme "belongs" to Mochoemóg, either; rather it may be Íta's, Ness', or Beoán's.

So, Cían is Conchobhar?

Nope - but as I discussed in the previous issue on Cíarán, the "Bile/Cíarán" cluster of Saints and Gods (where we find Conchobhar) seem to have a large intersection-area with the "Cían/Coemgen" saints (of which Mochoemóg is part). And, this extends to their genealogy and birth-myths. It seems that this conception-myth more properly "belongs" to Ness herself.

I've made a few attempts to draft a version of this issue where I address the parenting overlaps cogently, but it's a whole issue of its own really. And fortunately, it's part of what I wanted to cover in Saint Patrick's issue anyway, so ye can look forward to more elaboration there (3).

So, Who is Caoimhín / Coemgen / Mochoemóg?

Cían aligns well with Welsh Gwydion, Arthurian Myrddin/Merlin, Greek Pan/Hermes, Vedic/Hindu Pushan. He's a god of the roads and wild marches, patron of travellers and herdsmen, policer of the boundaries of civilisation and nature. He's also a fairly Solar god, possibly connected to the rising of the Sun.

Cían, specifically, is son to Dían Cécht, father to Lugh, consort to Eithliú.

This is easier to explain by looking at Coemgen of Glendalough, as Mochoemóg's story arc is a little closer to the intersection-zone with Cíarán and shows less of the "wildling" side.

Coemgen of Glendalough is born to a couple with suspiciously formulaic names, and is immediately baptised by the saintly form of Dian Cécht, Crónán.

Coemgen goes on to become a hermit in the wilds of Glendalough, and lives on nothing but nuts and herbs for a long time. He is later discovered because of his fruitful effect on a cow, and returned unwillingly to society by Dímma (a character who appears in both Cíans' lives and also with Cíarán & Crónán), and becomes a patron to a successful monastary - which starts to look a bit more like Cíarán.

However, in his own myths and miracles he takes on a "foster son" named Fáelán (AKA Lugh), and he's usually found on the road: he polices the behaviour of travellers, ensuring hospitality and civility, punishing crime and murder and ungenerosity. He brings bounty from nature: he provides food in the form of rustic fruits and herbs (including apples from a willow tree); he befriends an otter who brings him fish.

He also protects nature from man: he hosts a blackbird's nest in his hand and patiently sits so it can fledge; he punishes his disciple when he thinks of skinning the otter; he protects a pig from hunters. He makes a path through a thick woods but closes it after and forbids felling thereafter.

Aww The Poor Otter

Incidentally I think this might be the mythic explanation for why Otters, known as "Madra Uisce" or "Dobherchú" in Irish (Water Hounds) are not as tame as dogs/hounds anymore.

And Mochoemóg?

While Coemgen remains largely in one place doing all of these nature-ey border-ey things, Mochoemóg travels a lot, at first. He meets a lot of other Caomh[áí]ns, sometimes establishing churches he hands off to them, other times befriending them and moving on. Perhaps this should be read as a narrative way of indicating his association with other holy sites of his.

Finally, a king offers him a central, very fancy fort for his own: and Mochoemóg declines, asking instead for a remote, wild place. This is where Mochoemóg makes the distinction from Cíarán more clear, by choosing remoteness. He's set up with a site deep in a forest, near a bog.

Remember that mytheme where a God-Saint is shown their special site by an animal that seems to share their nature? Here, Mochoemóg meets a great grey Boar (a characteristic animal of Cían), and names the site after him: Liath, or "Léith", meaning "grey".

This god internationally is also a guardian and rescuer of herd animals, and Mochoemóg gets the king's swineherd to show him the right place by promising to return his animals to him: doubling the pig-symbolism of his site, I suppose.

The Wild Madness

Several recurring names besides the obscure Dímma appear in both Coemgen and Mochoemóg's lives, but the patterns are different. Let's start with Suibhne.

Suibhne Geilt is an Irish character who goes mad due to the curse of "Saint Rónán" (see below..), and has a tragic life of desperately wanting to return to his civilised life but being too paranoid and wild. He eventually 'retires' in the care of Saint Moling (Aengus mac Óg).

There are a lot of details about Suibhne and his British counterparts "Lailoken" or "Myrddin Wellt" that suggest that this character might be continuous in some way with Cían/Gwydion, perhaps representing the risk of becoming "too wild" and outstepping the bounds established by the God of the Marches.

So do we find this character name or archetype in the Caoimhíns? Yes, to both!

For one thing, Coemgen of Glendalough, in his "wildling" stage at the outset of his saintly life, does resemble Suibhne Geilt: he lives on herbs and wild fruits and nuts, and he shuns society and hides from humanity. He has to be forcibly "rehabilitated" by Dímma and his sons after they discover him close to death. One of the sons of Dímma becomes his companion at the monastary: Cellach, which seems to be another name for the Peaceable Twin archetype, AKA Aengus/Moling. So, Coemgen already follows a broad arc that resembles Suibhne, insofar as he goes "wildling mad" but ends up back in society alongside the Peaceable Twin.

Oddly, Coemgen's life ends with a note that he died just as a different King Suibhne begins his reign. Saints' lives normally don't date themselves according to kings. Hmm.

As for Mochoemóg, he interacts with a Suibhne, but it's one of indirect conflict; Suibhne's son "Sléibhín" kills a man favoured by Mochoemóg named Fáelán, and Mochoemóg punishes Suibhne's son for it. Suibhne and Mochoemóg are reconciled at the end. This is odd; it looks like Sléibhín just killed Fáelán, otherwise known as Coemgen's foster-son AKA Lugh!

Well, at least it wasn't one of the "Main Character" Fáeláns, whew. This one, oddly, is "Fáelán son of Rónán", and.. see below for what I think about the Rónáns. It's kind of odd if Lugh was rendered as a son of a half-brother for this, but maybe it was just convenient: Mochoemóg's only neighbour who can be a father, by this point, is Rónán.

Should we read this as Caoimhín struggling with his own madness? Or Suibhne as a closely aligned character, representing the dangers of going too-wild, who Caoimhín contests with? I don't know.

There are several Saints Suibhne, and they form an interestingly tight cluster with other people named Rónán, Sléibhín, Colmáns, Fáeláns, and of course Caoimhíns.

The Seals Remember

There's another character who's interesting in the context of Cían, especially considering Suibhne, and that's "Rónán" - meaning "Little Seal".

This one is very speculative but potentially spicy. Y'see, in various versions of the story where Cían sires Lugh with Eithliú, her handmaidens also wind up pregnant. When someone returns to rescue baby Lugh from Balor, Cían's other kids fall into the sea. Sometimes they drown. Sometimes, they become the first seals, or selkies.

In some versions, Cían is "Finn mac Cinnfhealad". Traditionally in some coastal places, anyone named "Kineely" ("Cinnfhealad") should not eat seal-meat - presumably because they're kin. Seals have this old association with Cían.

So, it's interesting that Mochoemóg and Suibhne both have a dispute over land with a Rónán! Suibhne confronts Rónán who's come to claim land for a church without consent, while a Rónán tries to claim back land from Mochoemóg. Suibhne "loses" and goes mad, Mochoemóg "wins" and they are reconciled.

Did one of the lost seal-children of Cían come back to claim an inheritance, I wonder?

Apples, Trees..

Mochoemóg has fewer wildling associations than Coemgen in general, though they both have associations with Apples and Tree-Fruit: Coemgen makes a Willow-tree bear Apples, while the presence of Mochoemóg is indicated to Colmán when his monks find apples growing in the woods.

As I mentioned before for Áed's issue, two gods in Irish myth have Apple associations: Manannán, and Cían. In some versions of Cían's myth, only he appears able to make Apple-Trees grow on the barren island of Balor, and it's as a landscaper and gardener that he gains access to Balor's lands. So this association with the saints and apples is sound.

Both also associate with trees generally - Mochoemóg's staff becomes a tree when he forgets it, and he chooses habitation within dense forest. He also commands a fallen tree to rise from a man trapped beneath it. Coemgen has a few too: in one version, he hides from society in a tree. When he's being borne back to society by Dímma and his sons, he makes the trees lie flat and then spring back up behind him. Individually, these myths aren't distinctive, but there does seem to be a pattern.

And the Glas Gaibhnenn

Finally, there's the Glas. The inciting incident for Cían's infiltration of Balor's island is usually the theft of the cow "Glas Gaibhnenn" (the "turquoise" or "grey" of Goibhniú) by Balor. She had been in Cían's care while Goibniú worked in his forge. It is during his escapades to find the stolen Glas that Cían comes upon Eithliú, and makes love to her to beget Lugh. After this he absconds with the mythical cow.

Now, the Glas is famous for her bountiful milk, capable of providing as much as can be milked from her. But, she ranges uncontrollably, and Cían needs to merely follow her and ensure her safety.

In Coemgen of Glendalough's story, he's found by Dímma because one of Dímma's cows wanders the woods and finds Coemgen, becoming supernaturally productive by licking his feet. They follow the cow and find Coemgen. So, this wanderly cow has a special affinity for the Cían saint and provides mad amounts of milk - suspiciously similar to the Glas.

There is a supernaturally productive milk story in Mochoemóg's story too, though the connection is looser - it's his mother, whose breastmilk is miracle'd into being copious by Féichín. I dunno, I'm calling it a "maybe". It's only suspect by circumstance, and Ness/Neasa probably are related to Boann (c.f. how Ness is also a waterway in Alba).

A Sister..

I do wonder whether the Glas might be a remembrance of Cían's consort-sister in an earlier tradition, whose existence is implied by comparison to Pushan (said to be his sister's lover), and to Gwydion (who is widely assumed to be the father of Lleu, his sister Arianrhod's son). When he seeks the Glas, he finds Eithliú. Recall: Eithliú goes on to be known as Boann, or "Bó Fhinne" - white cow. He goes seeking one cow, and finds another.

Meanwhile, a different clergyman Caoimhán has an interaction with Íta that deserves a look; he comes to her to die, and demands that she lay her hand upon his lips. She's clearly reluctant but complies in the end. The request, and her reluctance, give this a taboo vibe. This is particularly interesting because Íta is daughter of "Cinnfhealad" - the same name as one of Cían's attested fathers as "Finn mac Cinnfhealad".

This genealogy isn't really compatible with Mochoemóg-as-nephew of course, unless it's a reincarnation myth - with Caoimhán coming to his "sister" to die, and being reborn as her "Nephew" (or, her cryptic son).

It could be a thing: Neasa/Ness is probably the same goddess as Boann, in my view, so if Ness is Mochoemóg's mother, and Mochoemóg is equal to Cían, lover of Eithliú AKA Boann.. it looks suspicious. But as we'll find next issue, the genealogies at this layer are hopelessly muddled because of the very nature of who and what "Lugaid" probably represented; it's entirely possible in a theological sense to see Cían's watery mother as also being his "sister" insofar as they both may arise from the same divine essence, of which at least one of them was a part.

Wild or Inappropriate Sexuality

The above coded myth about Íta might be as close as Cían or Caoimhín come to "wild sexuality" or outright sexual inappropriateness, but it's very much a feature of the type. Especially if we consider other similar nature-agriculture-sex gods such as Priapus as possibly being duplicates of the type, as I think we should.

It's enough to point out that the god is noted to be a lover of his sister in the Vedic/Hindu accounts; gods often are, but it's rarely made a point of. So, we could include "incest" as an association here of sexual inappropriateness. But, it goes on..

Gwydion rapes a young woman in the court of Math (for which he suffers severe punishment), Khamits of the Ossetian Narts is murdered for abusing a magical power to seduce women, Pan is well-associated with inappropriate sexuality with beasts and nymphs, and Myrddin (later Merlin) has various endings that usually revolve around either a harassed or jealous sorceress imprisoning him. Even as Merlin Sylvestris, or Lailoken, his end comes when he reveals sexually inappropriate behaviour by Meldred's queen, and she has him killed (4).

This latter detail reminds us of the general rule that a god that causes a thing, can also be the solution to a thing: so if this god-type is prone to sexual inappropriateness, it's not a big twist that one of his appearances is the resolver of sexual inappropriateness, too.

Given how often this god meets his end as a consequence of his own sexual inappropriateness, I think it's likely that this originally figured in the murder of Cían at the hands of the Children of Tuireann, rather than the never-elaborated "feud" between two dynasties of gods. But I don't yet see anything to back that up in the surviving native tradition.

Wrap-Up

Cían, Caoimh, Caoimhín/án, and the anglicised "Kevin" are all names in usage. A female form, "Caoimhe", is also popular (indeed, there's a saint Caoimhe - perhaps I should examine her with Cían in mind, too).

The familial names "Ó'Caoimh" and "Ó/Mac Cinnfhealaidh" ("Kineely") are fairly clear associations, the latter seeming to connect to Cían's (and Íta's) father rather than directly to him.

Coemgen associates nearly exclusively with Glendalough. Mochoemóg, with the site of Léith in Tipperary, and with a site near Íta's in Killeedy. But reading through his life yields a few stops along the way: he studies in Bangor, sets up a temple in Anatrim (now Offerlane, co. Laois), stays with another Caomhán at Clonmore and Rathenny, and has a temple by the Lake of Lurga (where a few other God-saints resided, too). Cían himself has associations with his heist in Tory Island among other places.

Between Coemgen and Mochoemóg we get a good array of animal associations: Cows (a widespread godly association), Boar, Blackbirds, Otters. Cían's children were Seals or Selkies - an association he may share with Rónán.

As to plants, we have "trees" generally, but especially Apples, as expected. Coemgen of Glendalough makes miraculous blackberries, sorrel, and garlic that are fruitful out of season. If we stretch a little to include Suibhne, the list of associated edible wild herbs might include watercress.

I think it's reasonable to guess that, if Cíarán is our Cernunnos, then Caoimhín could be our "Green Man" - if indeed the motif is native to Celtic regions, which isn't currently in favour academically. At any rate, it would be an apt pairing!

Footnotes

1. Cathbad being infertile isn't explicitly stated - but when gods or heroes marry but the first kid appears to come from another father, that's often what's implied. I don't know if Cathbad's god-type associations generally include infertility, and I don't think the Ness stories can clear it up, because Cathbad and Beoán don't seem to be the same person.
2. There is an English myth of "Edith the Fair" who must find her husband's mutilated body on the battlefield, and I'm struck by how her name resembles one variation of Íte, "Íde".
3. If you want a taster, you can look at me ranting on the Fediverse during this issue's drafting.
4. I recently finished a course on "Myth Telling" with Kris Hughes, and for fun I made my final project a retelling of Lailoken's story to the melody of "Hotel California". It was a lot of fun. I can recommend her classes, provided you're willing to receive frank feedback in a class setting.

Bibliography

• Plummer, Charles (1922) "Bethada Náem nÉrenn", parts 8, 9, and 10, Available on UCC Celt
• Ó'Riain, Pádraig (2014) "Four Tipperary Saints - The Lives of Colum of Terryglass, Crónán of Roscrea, Mochaomhég of Leigh and Ruadhán of Lorrha". Ireland: Four Courts Press. Available here. (Possibly the only English translation for Mochoemóg)
• See also: the bibliography for the issue on Saint Íta, whose life contains references to Mochoemóg also.

Coming Up

17th Mar: Patrick, Ireland's most famous Saint - Lugh and Lugaid, a complex deity who bridges the beginning and end. Complicated by being one of the few whose narrative was framed on a real person.. 30th Mar: Crónán (AKA Mochua) - the Healer of the Gods, Dían Cécht. 6th Apr: A smaller issue on Brychan/Broccán, an unusual instance of the "Absolute", Breoghan, as an actual person. 15th Apr: Ruadhán of Lorrha, apparently the Irish Prometheus

Patterns in Celtic Comparativism, #9: Kingly & Saintly Genealogy

The Early Irish Christian Saints appear, by and large, to be Gods or Heroes in disguise; I hope by now you're with me on that observation. It's long been held, by some, with regard to individual saints like Brigit - I hope it's clear by now that it's actually true of most of them.

But how do you turn a God into a human? I mean, it's not just like you can nerf their powers and move on; Gods also tend to descend from and interact with other Gods, so a simple family tree of saints would end up making it seem as if all the Saints of Ireland were a single squabbling dynasty.

Well, uh, actually there are some clusters of saints who work that way.. But let's talk about the broader pattern instead: how did early hagiographers render the genealogical relationships of the Gods into humans credibly? Particularly when they seemed usually to want to de-emphasise the parents of the Saints as characters?

One simple answer is that they just did a lot of duplication. Lots of saints who share the same name and identity seem to have similarly-named parents, also. If their parents are characters in the God's story, then there may appear Saint or King characters with the same names and similar personalities.

But that's often not enough, and so sometimes you see a different pattern entirely - in this case, the parents of the saint become placeholder characters, sometimes with interestingly contrived names (like the parents of Coemgen of Glendalough), while the real 'parent' becomes their Christian Preceptor. This "Saint Parent" might baptise, or ordain, or foster, or train, the protagonist God-Saint. Crónán, who appears to be the saintly form of Dían Cécht, is the one who baptises Coemgen of Glendalough, for example. It's Bishop Erc (The Dagda), who "brings" Brendan (Midir) to Íta (Mórrígan) to "foster". It's Brendan (and his subordinate and probable duplicate) who foster and ordain Moling (Aengus).

So, those are the somewhat clearer examples: where a saint's literal or figurative parents are who you expect them to be. You might need to know what you're looking for when examining a Saint's genealogy; knowing that Cían has Dían Cécht for a father, it's possible to confirm their association by observing that Crónáns have a lot of associations with healing, and one of them has a well that some nasty people fill in with rocks. But sometimes, the genealogy is much more circumspect.

Sometimes a character will be provided with a note giving their tribal origin, and that can be a clue as to their affiliation. For example: Dímma is a character in Cíarán of Saighir's story and is given as of the "Cinel Fiachach", indicating some descent or affinity with the Fiach[nr]a god. Dímma of Coemgen of Glendalough is "son of Fergna" (not clear). In Mochoemóg's account, it's a "Díoma son of Féichín"; a much more direct link. The balance in this case seems to favour descent from Fiacha, supported primarily by the "son of" relationship and secondarily by the "Cinel Fiachach". Who's Dímma? I don't know yet. I can tell you a few things about his daddy though, if you like?

It's possible that you might also be able to glean information from the deeper genealogies, if you know where to find the "bottlenecks" - the ancestors who represent perhaps a "reset" of the creation-event, whose immediate offspring might then represent gods. Hypothetically if you could identify several such "bottleneck" ancestors and observe that the immediately following ancestor was in each case the same deity-type, it might be a hint. Most deep-genealogies are just filler, though, and if there is information in there, I've not yet been able to find anything strong enough to base an identification on.

In the end, genealogy and descent isn't enough by itself. It can serve two roles: to base a hypothesis (which must be tested against the narratives and characteristics of the hypothetical god), or to offer data to confirm a hypothesis by other means.

For example, when I identified Coemgen of Glendalough, it was by several attributes that suggested the link; his affiliation with a "Glas Gaibhnenn" cow, his general wildling nature, a possible link to a madman-continuation character like the Gwydion/Myrddin/Lailoken complex.

But, when I was able to examine his Saintly Father Figure, Crónán, and found details that supported an identity with Dían Cécht, it helped to cement the identification of Cían. Doing the same for his foster-son Fáelán as Lugh helped cement it even further. Subsequent analysis has only made me more confident, but the cross-identification of Coemgen and Cían occurred in stages and really benefited from identifying his familial relations.