Posted by murrisk on April 09, 2001 at 04:53:52:
Ronnie Drew and the Dubliners used to sing a satirical piece about the Irish navy at a time when there was a 12 mile limit, our naval capacity was questionable, and lots of Spanish brandy was being smuggled into north Mayo:
The Clíodna, the Maeve and the Macha
The pride of the Irish navy
When the captain he blows on his whistle
All the sailors go home for their tea
Clíodna together with Aibhell and Áine made up a triad of Munster goddesses. Macha together with Badb and Mórrígan also made up a triad of war-fertility goddesses. Macha's "fruit crop" was the heads of men that had been slaughtered. Árd Macha (Armagh) and Emain Macha (Navan Fort - Red Branch Knights) are named for her. Maeve was an earthy queen of Connaught and featured prominantly in the Táin. She is buried under the large cairn on Knocknarea, Co. Sligo.
Maybe Ronnie was tempting fate when he sang(?) disparagingly about this threesome.