Congal (1872), a long narrative poem by Samuel Ferguson, based on The Banquet of Dun na nGédh and the Battle of Magh Rath (1842), tales from the historical cycle, edited by John O'Donovan. Congal Claen, a pagan king of Ulster, declares war on the Christian High King Domnal when he is seated at his host's left hand at a banquet and served insulting food. Sweeny goes mad in the tumult [see Buile Shuibne]. Congal is fatally wounded with a blow struck by the idiot Cuanna.

Conghal
[Irish, conflict, fight, attack].

Name borne by several figures from early Irish history and legend, most notably Congal Cáech [One-eyed], a shadowy but historical 7th-century king of Ulster. Congal was a leader of Dál nAraide, a petty kingdom east of Lough Neagh, who became king of Ulster but was killed by the high king, Domnall (1), at the Battle of Mag Rath [Moira] (637); cf. the account of Mag Rath in Buile Shuibhne. Sir Samuel Ferguson dramatized this obscure ruler's reign in Congal (1872), the only epic poem in Anglo-Irish literature, much in the manner of George Chapman's Elizabethan translation of the Iliad. Another Congal was the foster-brother of Máel Fothartaig in Fingal Rónáin [How Rónán Killed His Son].