Deirdre was the daughter of Fedlimid mac Dail, a clan chieftain from Ulster and the royal storyteller.
Before she was born, her father took her to the druid Cathbad and asked him to foretell Deirdre’s future.
He said that she would grow to be the most beautiful woman in Ireland, and that kings and lords would go to war over her, causing the death of many of their men.
Hearing this, many of the Red Branch Knights wanted the baby immediately killed and urged King of Ulster, Conchobair mac Nessa to take action.
He came up with a solution, intrigued by the description of her future beauty and wanting to keep the child for himself as his wife when she became of age.
Deirdre was taken from his family to a secluded place and an old, wise woman called Leabharcham raised her and. She tried very hard to influence Conchobar not to marry her, and every time the King was more determined to do so.
As it had been foretold, Deirdre grew to be a beautiful, but lonely woman.
While she was in the old woman’s care, Deirdre started to have prophetic dreams, particularly of a young man with black hair, white skin and red lips, and she knew that she would love this fearless warrior.
Deirdre told Leabharcham of her dremas, and she automatically recognised this man as Naoise, a handsome young warrior, hunter and singer at Conchobar’s court.
Deirdre begged the old woman to send for Naoise. Leabharcham refused at first, but when she saw how unhappy the girl was, she helped her.
And so,Deirdre met Naoisse. In the beginning he did not want to have anything to do with her, because it was well known that Deirdre was destined to be the King’s wife. But none of them could help falling in love with each other.
They could not get married in Ulster, so they decided to flee to Scotland, accompanied by Naoise’s two brothers, Ainle and Ardam.
They settled on an island off the coast of Scotland, and for few years they lived happy and had a daughter; but the furious and humiliated Conchobar did not forget about them and finally tracked them down and forged a plan to get them back.
He sent Fergus mac Roich with a message of King’s forgiveness and an invitation to return, plus Fergus’s own promise to take them back home safely.
Deirdre did not trust the king and wanted to stay in the island, but Naoise believed him, so they set off for the journey back.
As instructed by the King, Fergus was detained on the return journey and was not able to keep protecting the group,but he asked his son to continue the journey.
After they had arrived, Conchobar sent Leabharcham to check if Deirdre had lost her beauty in the years she had been away.
To protect Deirdre, the old woman lied, telling the King that the girl had lost all her beauty. Conchobar did not quite believed her, and he sent another spy, Gelbann, who managed to get a glimpse of Deirdre and went back to tell Conchobar that Deirdre was as beautiful as ever.
With these news, Conchobar called his warriors to attack the house where Deirdre and the three brothers were staying.
Naoise and his brothers fought valiantly, but they were killed, and Deirdre was taken away and forced to marry Conchobar.
After a year, angry with Deirdre for her continuing coldness, Conchobar asked her whom in the world (after him), she hated the most. She replied “Eogan mac Durthacht”, the man who had killed Naoise.
Conchobar, as a punishment, decided to take Deirdre to Eogan, to do with her as he wished.
To prevent her escape, the King tied her hands and placed her in his chariot. During the long journey, Deirdre managed to throw herself from the chariot, hitting her head against a rock and was killed.
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