The Angry Redhead

When setting out to sea, avoid people with red hair for they bring bad luck to a ship.

In ancient Ireland if a traveler were to happen upon a woman with red hair he must turn around and start his journey all over again. Red heads bring bad luck to a ship, don't sail with one on board. Redheads seem to be relatively recent in evolutionary terms, only being with us for about 20,000 years but in that short time a a whole body of superstition has built up around them.

There must have been some advantage to having red hair and pale skin. One reason for this is that the fairer your skin, the more vitamin D it can produce - a bonus in areas with hardly any sunlight - or the gene underpinning this characteristic, the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), is just due to chance. Was Nature indifferent to hair colour in places without high sunshine ? Whatever the reason, the result is the beautiful shades of sun- kissed hair that we call red.

Natural Redheads are a rare breed, perhaps 5% of the global population, and historically have always been treated with prejudice and suspicion, or with amazement and awe. Fiery tresses are widely supposed to be a 'Celtic gene' as all red heads are MC1R variants that derive from European populations and the prevalence of these alleles is highest in Celtic countries .But none of this tells us anything of the superstitions, or why we believe that Redheads are fiery and hot-tempered. One answ er lies in Ireland.

Macha, the red war-goddess makes a vengeful appearance in the second story of Ulster, in a terrible story of humilation. This Macha placed the curse upon the men of Ulaid, for their mistreatment of her during her pregnancy. The curse was that during Ulster's hours of greatest need, the men of Ulster would suffer violent pangs like those of a woman giving birth. But Macha Mong Ruad, who also railled against the men of Ireland, was a great Queen in ancient times.....

Today, the silent grasses cover the mound of Emain Macha, a little north-west of Armagh, but this ancient hill fortress played a vital and vibrant role in the fortunes and history of Ulster and indeed in the making of Ireland herself. Emain Macha was Conchobar's capital - the seat of power in Ulaid (Ulster). The dun was founded by Queen Macha the Red-Haired, the first reliably documented ruler in Irish History.

Her father, Aod Ruad (Red Hugh) was one of a triumvirate with his brothers Dithorba and Cimbaoth. They had an arrangement that each would reign for seven years in turn. Stories tell of three times seven guarantees to ensure that each king handed over sovereignty at the end of his seven years - guarentees to ensure the righteousness of each king's reign so that there would be an abundance of fruit every year, that every colour of dye would be fast and that no women would die in childbirth. These guarantees were - seven druids, to scorch them with spells - seven poets, to shame them with satires - and seven champions, to wound and burn them if they didn't fulfil their obligations. Each took three turns as king, sixty-three years in all.

ed Ruad drowned before he finished his term of office and although Macha should have ruled her father's incompleted term, her two uncles opposed her. Macha led an army to war, where she killed Dithorba in battle. (Dithorba's five sons had fled to Connacht, where they plotted to overthrown Macha but she captured them in a fascinating manner.) Then with equal skill and mastery she turned her attention towards her uncle Cimbaoth, first defeating and then compelling him to formally marry her. Macha founded the city of Emain Macha, and legend tells that she marked the boundary of her hill-fortress with her brooch and forced Dithorba's sons into building the dun as slaves.

Cimbaeth became the high king of Ireland, and ruled in Tara for 27 years with Macha until his death, leaving Macha in sole power. Emania Macha, her legacy, later became renowned as the fortress of the Red Branch.

Was it this Macha, understandably angered with her male relatives, who inspired the myth of the fiery- tempered redhead?

Susanna Duffy is a Civil Celebrant, grief counsellor and mythologist. She creates ceremonies and Rites of Passage for individual and civic functions, and specialises in Croning and other Celebrations at Milestones for Women.

Author:: Susanna Duffy
Keywo rds:: Redheads, red hair, irish legend, irish myth, queen of Ireland
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