One pig, two provinces, and nobody left standing
The Story of Mac Dá Thó’s Pig is one of the funniest and most savage stories in the Ulster Cycle. It is a story about hospitality weaponised, about the Ulster warriors and the Connacht warriors trying to outboast each other at a feast, and about a pig so enormous it takes sixty oxen to carry it and still manages to be the smallest problem in the room.
The Impossible Problem
Mac Dá Thó was a Leinster king who owned two great treasures: a magical hound called Ailbe that every province wanted, and a feast-hall famous across Ireland. Both Connacht (Medb and Ailill) and Ulster (Conchobar mac Nessa) sent him messengers on the same day, both demanding the hound. Mac Dá Thó couldn’t give it to both, and giving it to one meant war with the other. His solution was characteristically Irish: he invited both provinces to a feast at the same time and let them sort it out themselves.
The Pig
At the feast was a pig of legendary size — fattened for seven years on sixty cows’ milk per day. The question was who had the right to carve it — which meant the question was who was the greatest warrior in the room, since carving was the champion’s privilege. The boasting began. Every Ulster warrior recalled a great deed. Every Connacht warrior called them liars and named their own. The insults escalated. Conall Cernach and a Connacht warrior named Cet mac Mágach argued over who was greater — and Cet was winning the argument until Conall pointed out that Cet’s own brother was missing his hand, and that was because Conall had taken it.
Cet stood aside. Conall carved the pig — and gave all the best portions to Ulster and left only the front legs for Connacht. The Connacht warriors did not accept this calmly.
The Hound
The feast dissolved into a battle. Mac Dá Thó released Ailbe the hound into the fight — it joined the Connacht side. A Connacht warrior killed it by throwing it under a chariot wheel. The hound was dead and nobody got it. Mac Dá Thó watched his entire feast become a battlefield and emerged with neither province owing him any goodwill and one fewer magical hound. A lesson in the perils of trying to please everyone.
Key facts about Mac Dá Thó
- Irish title: Scéla Mucce Meic Dá Thó (“The Story of Mac Dá Thó’s Pig”)
- Host: Mac Dá Thó — Leinster king; owner of the magical hound Ailbe and a famous feast-hall
- The dilemma: Both Ulster and Connacht demanded his hound on the same day
- His solution: Invited both to the same feast simultaneously
- The pig: Legendary size — fattened for seven years; took sixty oxen to carry it in
- The carving dispute: Conall Cernach won the argument against Cet mac Mágach; gave all best cuts to Ulster
- Ailbe the hound: Released into the fight; joined Connacht; killed under a chariot wheel
- Outcome: A battle; everyone left with grievances; Mac Dá Thó lost his hound and his feast
- Cycle: Ulster Cycle
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