Show Notes
What does it mean to hold power, and what does it take to claim it? In this episode of Wild Kin, we step into the world of early Ireland through the story of Medb, a queen remembered for her ambition, her strategy, and the war she waged to secure her place as an equal ruler. But beneath the drama of cattle raids and battlefield tactics lies something deeper. Medb’s story opens a window into a society where wealth, land, and authority were closely intertwined- and where power within marriage, leadership, and even the land itself followed a very different logic than what we know today. From early Irish law to sovereignty traditions and later reinterpretations, we explore how Medb’s story has endured, evolved, and continues to resonate. If you'd like more Celtic stories & resources, check out Wild Kin Studio on Substack Resources: Primary texts are drawn from the CELT (Corpus of Electronic Texts) archive at University College Cork. Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) via CELT Cáin Lánamna (Brehon Law Text) Medb of Connaught Mention of Medb’s Tomb in the Metrical Dindschenchas
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More from Wild Kin: A Celtic Podcast
He's remembered as a warrior, a poet, a healer, and a craftsman all at once, and an entire Celtic harvest festival still carries his name three thousand years later. In our Lughnasadh season finale, we're meeting Lugh- the many-skilled god behind it all. We'll trace his rise from a prophecy to one of the most well-documented festivals in the ancient Celtic world. For more Celtic-inspired stories and resources, subscribe to Wild Kin on Substack
At the height of the Lughnasadh fair, families gathered from across the land to trade, to settle disputes, and, some say, for matchmaking. This episode traces what we actually know about marriage at the ancient festival, and the surprisingly practical unions recognized under Brehon law. For more Celtic-inspired stories, subscribe to Wild Kin Studio on Substack Sources - Eska, Charlene M. Cáin Lánamna: An Old Irish Tract on Marriage and Divorce Law. Leiden: Brill, 2010. - MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962. - Howard Goldbaum, "Teltown (Tailteann)," Voices from the Dawn, July 25, 2010. - L. Winifred Faraday (trans.), "The Cattle Raid of Cualnge," sacred-texts.com, 1904. - Pádraig Bambury and Stephen Beechinor (eds.), "The Annals of Ulster," CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College Cork, 2008.
Every August 1st, people across the Celtic world gathered for Lughnasadh—one of the best-documented festivals of the ancient calendar. In this episode, we step onto the fairground itself: the games, the legal proceedings, the matchmaking, and the truce that made all of it possible. We'll also look at what modern archaeoastronomy has revealed about just how far this tradition traveled, and how a Celtic harvest festival ended up shaping a Roman political calendar. Subscribe to Wild Kin Studio on Substack
Before the festival, there was Tailtiu. A defeated queen clearing a forest by hand so her people could eat, she gave everything to the effort. The festival we now call Lughnasadh was born from the grief and gratitude that followed. In this episode, we trace her story from the earliest surviving Irish texts to how her legacy continues to live on today.
From the sovereignty goddess tradition of the early Irish, through the May Day customs, this episode traces where the traditions of Beltane originated. Most of what people associate with the festival today was invented surprisingly recently, but underneath the layers, there's something older and more interesting worth finding. For more Celtic-inspired stories, check out Wild Kin Studio on Substack