Rudraige mac Sithrigi

Who is Rudraige mac Sithrigi?

Rudraige, son of Sitric, son of Dub, son of Fomor, son of Airgetmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing his predecessor, Crimthann Coscrach, and ruled for thirty or seventy years, after which he died of plague in Airgetglenn. He was succeeded by Finnat Már, son of Nia Segamain. Rudraige was particularly associated with the northern part of Ireland: the dynasty of the Dál nAraidi, who ruled eastern Ulster in the early Middle Ages, traced their descent from him, and the Lebor Gabála Érenn names him as the grandfather of the Ulaid hero Conall Cernach. The Lebor Gabála synchronises the start of his reign with that of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, and his death with that of Ptolemy X Alexander I in Egypt. The chronology of Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to 184–154 BC, that of the Annals of the Four Masters to 289–219 BC.