這場戰爭是由阿爾斯特的鄰國康諾特的王后梅芙(Maeve)和自己的丈夫麥特之子艾利爾(Ailill mac Mate)在枕邊爭論他們兩個誰更加富有而引發的。梅芙知道自己的丈夫擁有一頭銀白色的神牛,因此她希望能得到菲查那(Fiachna)兒子達爾(Dare)的棕褐色大牛唐·庫利來贏過丈夫(註:在一些史詩作品中這頭牛被稱為“庫林格的棕色公牛”,即the Brown Bull of Cualnge)。
據傳,梅芙葬在County Sligo的Knocknarea (Cnoc na Ré in Irish)。這是一座美麗的山。
後代對梅芙的紀念
錢幣上的女王
[國別]愛爾蘭
[年份]1989年
[面值]1鎊
[規格]148×78 mm
[正面]梅芙女王(Queen Maeve)
[背面]愛爾蘭最古老的文獻資料,12世紀的《牛皮書》(Book of the Dun Cow)
葉芝筆下的梅芙
葉芝經常提到梅芙女王,在《A William Butler Yeats Encyclopedia》中的描述:
MEAVE QUEEN(Irish:Mebh,Maebh)[she who intoxicates], mythological goddess queen of Connacht. She ruled from her capital at Cruachan(County Roscommon) and was the dominant partner in the relationship with her husband Ailill. She had a lover, Fergus Mac Roich, who had a reputation for his sexual prowess. She appears in the Ulster Cycle of tales as a scheming, promiscuous woman who declares war on Ulster out of greed and jealousy. Her husband has a magnificent White Bull, but she is covetous of the Ulster Brown Bull. When the men of Ulster refuse to give it to her, she leads her army northwards and encounters Cuchulain, the only Ulster hero not under the spell of Macha. Maeve's struggles with the Ulster champion form the basis of the Táin Bó Cuailnge. Maeve attempts to bribe Cuchulain with her daughter Finnebair and then sends her strongest champions against him. When she fails, she brings about his death by magic. She meets her own death at the hands of her nephew, Furbaidhe, in revenge for the murder of his mother, Clothra. Maeve is reputed to be buried beneath a cairn on Knocknarea in Sligo, but other sources insist she is buried at Cruachan. While she does not appear as an onstage character, she plays a threatening and decisive part in the action of WBY's plays On Baile's Strand and The Death of Cuchulain. In the poems "Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland" and The Wanderings of Oisin, WBY associates Maeve with Knocknarea. In "And Fair, Fierce Women", he vividly describes her as a strong, handsome figure of about thirty, dressed in white, carrying a sword and a dagger.