Cathaír Már
A daughter of Cathaír, Eithne Thóebfhota, is said to have married Cormac (qv) son of Art. Cathaír's reign is thus placed by the pseudo-historians in late prehistory – seemingly in the second century AD. According to tradition, Cathaír was ultimately slain by a subject people, the Luigne of Tara. The alleged last testament of this patriarchal figure, ‘Timna Cathaír Máir’, and its function in justifying the political primacy of Uí Dúnlainge (or perhaps, at an earlier date, an Uí Fhailge ascendancy) has been the subject of much discussion. Similarly, the role accorded to Cathaír in the person of Buchet in the king-tale ‘Esnada Tige Buchet’ has received considerable attention. This story seems to reflect a transfer of the Tara kingship from the Leinstermen to the Uí Néill (in the persons of Cormac and his son Cairpre Lifechair (qv)). The suggestion that ‘Cathaír’ – apparently meaning ‘battle lord’ – was perhaps a title borne by the later (i.e. fifth-century) Laigin kings of Tara is not implausible.