Cairpre (Corpre) Lifechair

Cairpre (Corpre) Lifechair , son of Cormac and putatively king of Tara, is a pseudo-historical character and an ancestor-figure of the Connachta and Uí Néill. He is represented in genealogical tradition as a son of Cormac (qv) son of Art, supposedly king of Tara, and Eithne Thóebfhota, daughter of Cathaír Már (qv), ancestor of the main dynasties of the Laigin. The Leinster connection here is almost certainly significant: Cairpre's sobriquet Lifechair means ‘lover of the Liffey plain’, and it is possible that both he and Cormac were absorbed from Leinster (or, indeed, from earlier Érainn) tradition by the emerging Uí Néill dynasties in the early historical period. The tale ‘Esnada tige Buchet’, in which Cormac and Eithne beget Cairpre, seems to reflect a transfer of the Tara kingship from the Leinstermen to the Uí Néill. Cairpre is assigned two brothers or half-brothers, Dáire and Cellach, and ten sisters. There is no mention of his wife (or wives), but he was reputedly the father of Fiachu Sraiptine and of Eochu Domplén – from whom, respectively, the Connachta–Uí Néill dynasties and the rulers of the Airgialla federation claimed descent.

Cairpre is said to have succeeded to the kingship of Tara after the abdication of his father; Middle Irish lists accord him a reign of seventeen or twenty-seven years. The importance accorded to him, as the doctrine of Tara kingship took shape, is illustrated by the dialogue ‘Tecosca Cormaic’, in which he is advised by his father concerning the qualifications for kingship. Credited with many battles, in Middle Irish literature he is associated with the bóruma (cattle-tribute), levied by the kings of Tara on the Laigin, which he supposedly remitted after his defeat by Find (qv) son of Cumall. Cairpre is said to have been slain by a king of the Fothairt in the battle of Gabair. His relevance to history lies in his alleged ancestral role.