Macha is an Irish Goddess associated with horses and war who came in the form of a woman to the house of a widower called Crunchu. She became the woman of the house on the condition that he would not tell anyone about her, but Crunchu did not keep his promise. Instead, at the king’s annual fair day, when people were praising the magnificence of the horses proudly owned by King of Ulster Conchobar mac Neasa, Crunchu, full of ale, boasted that his wife could out run the lot of them. Insulted, the king ordered her to come and prove the claim. By then Macha was pregnant with twins and so she and Crunchu begged the king to wait until her babies were born, but he refused. Macha ran the race and won but at the finish she gave birth and then she died. However before she died she cursed the men of ulster so that every time they were in their hours of need they would be struck down with the pangs of childbirth. That is the reason why, when Queen Meadhbh of Connacht marched to war against ulster, the great hero Cú Chulainn fought to defend the whole province through single combat, because Conchobar’s army was struck by Macha’s curse. The site Emain Macha, where she delivered her babies became the capital of ulster. This story is very important to the great Epic Táin Bó Cúailnge. You can read the story from her own perspective in my book, TÁIN : The Women’s Stories
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