prophecy in verse of his future glory, in which he refers to him as "my son and my grandson", suggesting there was once a tradition that Cathbad was Ness's father and that Conchobar was born of incest between them. By the time Conchobar is seven, Fergus mac Róich is king of Ulster and he falls in love with Ness. She consents to marry him on one condition – that he abdicate his kingship for a year in favour of Conchobar, so that his sons will be able to call themselves the sons of a king. Fergus consults with his nobles and they advise him that the boy will be king in name only, so he agreed. But Conchobar, advised by his mother, is so crafty at distributing wealth and gifts that when the year is up, the Ulstermen won't have Fergus back and Conchobar keeps the kingship. According to some traditions Ness is the mother of Cormac Cond Longas by incest with Conchobar (although in other traditions, Cormac's mother is Conchobar's wife Clothru). She is also the mother of Conchobar's sisters Deichtine and Findchóem. In popular culture Cartoonist Patrick Brown adapted Ness's story as a webcomic in 2007–2008. References Ulster Cycle Characters in Irish mythology