The king forces the pregnant Macha to race the horses. She wins, but then gives birth to twins on the finish line. Before dying in childbirth, she curses the Ulstermen to be overcome with the exhaustion of childbirth at the time of their greatest need. This is a fore-tale of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The name Emain Macha is thus explained as "Macha's twins". The Annals of the Four Masters says that the Three Collas conquered the area in 331 AD, burning Emain Macha and driving the Ulaidh eastwards over the River Bann. Another tradition is that Emain Macha was destroyed by Niall of the Nine Hostages, or his sons, in the following century. Many other characters from Irish mythology are associated with Emain Macha, including: Amergin the poet Cú Chulainn, the great warrior Emer, his strong-willed and beautiful bride Conall Cernach, his foster-brother and close friend Lóegaire, another warrior Cathbad, the chief druid Fergus mac Róich, another great warrior and king Deirdre of the Sorrows, and Naoise, her brave lover Leabharcham, the wise woman Conservation and tourism Until 1985, the site was threatened by the growth of a nearby limestone quarry. Due mostly to the efforts of the activist group Friends of Navan, a public inquiry held that year halted further quarrying, and recommended that Navan be developed for tourism. A visitor centre, featuring artefacts and audio-visual exhibitions, was opened in 1993, but closed in 2001 for lack of funds. It reopened in 2005 after the site was bought by Armagh City and District Council. Other significant prehistoric sites nearby include Haughey's Fort, an earlier Bronze Age hill fort two-thirds of a mile (1 km) to the west; the King's Stables, a manmade pool also dating to the Bronze Age; and Loughnashade, a natural lake which has yielded Iron Age artefacts. In popular culture Eamhain Mhacha is the name of an Irish traditional music group formed in 2008. Irish heavy metal band Waylander also has a song called "Emain Macha" on their 1998 album Reawakening Pride Once Lost. "Emain Macha" is the name of a place in the computer games Dark Age of Camelot, Mabinogi and The Bard's Tale. See also An sluagh sidhe so i nEamhuin? ("Is this a fairy host in Eamhain Mhacha?") – an Irish poem dated to the late 16th century. References Texts Bricriu's Feast Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology External