Fedlimid Rechtmar or Rechtaid ("the judge, lawgiver") son of Tuathal Techtmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland

High King of Ireland

The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

. His mother was Báine, daughter of Scál. He took power after killing his predecessor, and his father's killer, Mal mac Rochride

Mal mac Rochride

Mal, son of Rochraide, a descendant of the legendary hero Conall Cernach, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a king of the Ulaid and later a High King of Ireland...

. He is said to have instituted the principle of an eye for an eye

An eye for an eye

The meaning of the principle, an eye for an eye, is that a person who has injured another person receives the same injury in compensation. The exact Latin to English translation of this phrase is actually "The law of retaliation." At the root of this principle is that one of the purposes of the...

 into Irish law, after which the behaviour of the Irish improved. The completion of the road construction around Tara

Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...

 is attributed to him. He ruled for nine or ten years before dying in his bed, and was succeeded by Cathair Mór

Cathair Mor

Cathair Mór , son of Fedlimid Fir Urglais, a descendant of Mug Corb, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after the death of Fedlimid Rechtmar. He is said to have had thirty sons, but only ten of them had children; several medieval...

. One of his sons, Conn Cétchathach, would succeed Cathair. Two other sons, Fiacha Suigde, ancestor of the Dal Fiachrach Suighe

Dal Fiachrach Suighe

The Dal Fiachrach Suighe were an Irish lineage claiming descent from Fiachra Suighe, the youngest of six sons of Fedlimid Rechtmar. His oldest brother was the legendary High King Conn Cétchathach. Fiachra's great-great-great-great grandsons, the four sons of Art Corb, were expelled from Tara, a...

, and Eochaid Finn, are named in medieval sources. The Lebor Gabála Érenn

Lebor Gabála Érenn

Lebor Gabála Érenn is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages...

synchronises his reign with that of the Roman emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Marcus Aurelius (161-180). The chronology of Geoffrey Keating

Geoffrey Keating

Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was a 17th century Irish Roman Catholic priest, poet and historian. He was born in County Tipperary c. 1569, and died c. 1644...

's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to 104-113, that of the Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

to 110-119.

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