Óengus mac Nad Fraích

Oenghus

Óengus mac Nad Fraích was a king of Cashel, Munster (south central Ireland), in the second half of the fifth century.

He was a member of the Eóganacht dynasty, which might have been expelled from Wales a few decades earlier. Óengus was believed to have married Ethne Uathach of the Uí Ceinnselaig dynasty, whom he joined in a war aganst the Laigin people. Óengus and his allies lost the battle of Cenn Losnada against the Laigins in 490, and Óengus was killed.

Óengus would have been contemporary with Arthur, and some scholars have suggested him as the source of King Anguish of Ireland in French prose romance, though a far more likely source is Geoffrey’s Angusel. In any event, a number of Irish figures with the name Óengus were known in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. Although he probably owes his name to the god Oenghus Mac in Og, he has no other connections with the deity.