277 CE - Expulsion of Desi from Ireland

by Cinaet Scotach

The Desi were a Clan of Bregia in Meath. They were exiled from their lands by Cormac MacArt, the Ard Rig at Tara. In the story "Inndarba inna nDesi" it is told how one of the sons of Cormac named Cellach raped a niece of Aonghus, the Chief of the Desi. When Aonghus heard of this he went before Cormac and called for justice. Cellach denied the charges and, in a rage, Aonghus grabbed a spear and slew Cellach. In the fray , Cormac lost one of his eyes to the butt of the spear wielded by Aonghus and therefore lost his kingship as well. A man could not be King who was not perfect, and the thrust of a spearbutt had caused an imperfection in the King and caused the position to be given to his son Caibre. The Desi were driven from their lands. Some settled in Munster while others were driven out of Ireland altogether into southern Wales.

In Wales there is a stone marker with the inscription Voterporius in Latin and the Ogam inscription Voteocorigas. Voterporius/Voteocorigas was a ruler of the Desi in the sixth century. It is a rare example of both Roman style script and Ogam being found on the same object. Clearly the use of Ogam with the Q-celtic pronounciation in a P-celtic speaking land shows that while the Desi had been exiled from Ireland for over 200 years the language of their homeland was still in use.

Sources:

The Age of the Picts, W.A. Cummins, Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., (c) 1995, ISBN 0-7509-0924-2

Irish Mythology, Peter Beresford Ellis, Oxford University Press, (c)1987, ISBN 0-19-282871-1

prepared by Cinaet Scotach

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