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List Of High Kings Of Ireland
Medieval Irish historical tradition held that Ireland had a High King (''Ard Rí'') based at Tara since ancient times, and compilations like the 11th-century ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', followed by Early Modern works like the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' and ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'', purported to trace the line of High Kings. John T. Koch explains: "Although the kingship of Tara was a special kingship whose occupants had aspirations towards supremacy among the kings of Ireland, in political terms it is unlikely that any king had sufficient authority to dominate the whole island before the 9th century". Máel Sechnaill I is often considered the first historical High King, although he faced some opposition. Applying the title to earlier kings is considered anachronistic, while kings from before the 5th century are generally considered legendary. The traditional list of High Kings is thus a mixture of historical facts and legend. The annals describe some later High Kings as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lia Fáil
The () or (; "Stone of Fál") is a stone at the Inauguration Mound () on the Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, which served as the coronation stone for the King of Tara and hence High King of Ireland. It is also known as the Stone of Destiny or Speaking Stone. According to legend, all of the kings of Ireland were crowned on the stone up to Muirchertach mac Ercae, . Geology Archibald Geikie noted resemblances to the calcareous red sandstone of which the Stone of Scone is composed; it is not currently believed the stones originated from connected quarry sites. It has also been identified as a whitish granitoid. Mythical origin There are several different, and conflicting, legends in Irish mythology describing how the is said to have been brought to Ireland.William Forbes Skene: The Coronation Stone. Edmonston & Douglas, 1869. p. 23 The Lebor Gabala, dating to the eleventh century, states that it was brought in antiquity by the semi-divine race known as the T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Máel Sechnaill Mac Domnaill
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (), also called Máel Sechnaill Mór or Máel Sechnaill II (949 – 2 September 1022), was a King of Mide and High King of Ireland. His great victory at the Battle of Tara against Olaf Cuaran in 980 resulted in Gaelic Irish control of the Kingdom of Dublin. First reign as High King Máel Sechnaill belonged to the Clann Cholmáin branch of the Uí Néill dynasty. He was the grandson of Donnchad Donn, great-grandson of Flann Sinna and great-great-grandson of the first Máel Sechnaill, Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. The Kings of Tara or High Kings of Ireland had for centuries alternated between the various Uí Néill branches. By Máel Sechnaill's time this alternating succession passed between Clann Cholmáin in the south and the Cenél nEógain in the north, so that he succeeded Domnall ua Néill in 980. This system had survived previous challenges by outsiders including the kings of Ulster, Munster and Leinster, and the Viking inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floruit
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicating the time when someone flourished. Etymology and use is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of the Latin verb ', ' "to bloom, flower, or flourish", from the noun ', ', "flower". Broadly, the term is employed in reference to the peak of activity for a person or movement. More specifically, it often is used in genealogy and historical writing when a person's birth or death dates are unknown, but some other evidence exists that indicates when they were alive. For example, if there are Will (law), wills Attestation clause, attested by John Jones in 1204 and 1229, as well as a record of his marriage in 1197, a record concerning him might be written as "John Jones (fl. 1197–1229)", even though Jones was born before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruthin
The Cruthin (; or ; ) were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry. They are also said to have lived in parts of Leinster and Connacht. Their name is the Irish equivalent of *''Pritanī'', the reconstructed native name of the Celtic Britons, and ''Cruthin'' was sometimes used to refer to the Picts, but there is a debate among scholars as to the relationship of the Cruthin with the Britons and Picts. The Cruthin comprised several túatha (territories), which included the Dál nAraidi of County Antrim and the Uí Echach Cobo of County Down. Early sources distinguish between the Cruthin and the Ulaid, who gave their name to the over-kingdom, although the Dál nAraidi would later claim in their genealogies to be , "the true Ulaid".Ó Cróinín 2005, pp. 182-234. The Loígis, who gave their name to County Laois in Leinster, and the Sogain of Leinster and Connacht, are als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulaid
(Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which is the Latin form of , and , Irish for 'the Fifth'. The king of Ulaid was called the or . Ulaid also refers to a people of early Ireland, and it is from them that the province of Ulster derives its name. Some of the dynasties in the over-kingdom claimed descent from the Ulaid, but others are cited as being of Cruithin descent. In historical documents, the term Ulaid was used to refer to the population group of which the was the ruling dynasty. As such, the title held two meanings: over-king of the Kingdom of Ulaid and king of the Ulaid people, as in the . The Ulaid feature prominently in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. According to legend, the ancient territory of Ulaid spanned the whole of the modern province of Ulster, excludin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Érainn
The Iverni (, ') were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis (, ') in their territory, and observes that this settlement has the same name as the island as a whole, Ivernia (, '). These Iverni can be identified linguistically with the Érainn (Éraind, Érnai, Érna), a people attested in Munster and elsewhere in the early Middle Ages. The prehistoric Érainn royal dynasties are sometimes referred to as the Dáirine. Etymology The name Iverni has been derived from Archaic Irish ''*Īwernī'' meaning "folk of ''*Īweriū'' " (the island of Ireland). This is in turn derived from Proto-Celtic *''Φīwerjon-'' and further from Proto-Indo-European *''piHwerjon-'' (the fertile land), which is cognate with the Ancient Greek '' píeira'' and Sanskrit ''pīvara'', which refer to fertile land. John T. Koch claims it was probably once the name given to al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laigin
The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish as ''Cóiced Laigen'', meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinstermen" (Modern Irish Cúige Laighean), where their descendants ruled till the 17th century. Their territory, located in south-east Ireland, is thought to have once extended from the River Shannon to the River Boyne. The surnames of those descended from the Laigin are still counted amongst the most numerous in Ireland. Etymology Laigin is a plural noun, indicating an ethnonym rather than a geographic term, but the Irish system of naming territories meant that an area tended to be named after an apical ancestor figure even when the ruling dynasty had no links to that figure. The origin of their name is uncertain; however, it is traditionally assumed to derive from the Irish word ', meaning 'a spear'. Early texts use the names ''Laigen'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kings Of Tara
The term Kingship of Tara () was a title of authority in ancient Ireland - the title is closely associated with the archaeological complex at the Hill of Tara. The position was considered to be of eminent authority in medieval Irish literature and Irish mythology, although national kingship was never a historical reality in early Ireland. The term also represented a prehistoric and mythical ideal of sacred kingship in Ireland. Holding the title King of Tara invested the incumbent with a powerful status. Many Irish High Kings were simultaneously Kings of Tara. The title emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries. In later times, actual claimants to this title used their position to promote themselves in status and fact to the High Kingship. Prior to this, various branches of the Uí Néill dynasty appear to have used it to denote overlordship of their kindred and realms. It was associated with ''Feis Temro'' (Feast of Tara), a pagan inauguration rite. The titles King of Tara and H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties that claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who is believed to have died around c. 405. They are generally divided into the Northern and Southern Uí Néill.Downham, 2018, pp. 93-7. Branches The founders of the Uí Néill branches are the alleged sons of Niall Noigiallach, seven in all: The Northern Uí Néill branch: * Conall Gulban, ancestor of the Cenél Conaill dynasty, * Eógan, ancestor of the Cenél nEógain dynasty. The Southern Uí Néill branch: * Éndae, ancestor of the Cenél nÉndai, * Coirpre, ancestor of the Cenél Coirpri dynasty, * Lóegaire, ancestor of the Cenél Lóegaire dynasty, * Conall Cremthainne, ancestor of the Clann Cholmáin and Síl nÁedo Sláine, * Fiachu, ancestor of the Cenél Fiachach. All these men were in their lifetime known as members of Connachta dynasty, or as "the sons of Niall." The term Uí N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connachta
The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasty, dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King of Ireland, High King Conn of the Hundred Battles, Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles). The modern western Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht (Irish language, Irish ''Cúige Chonnacht'', province, literally "fifth", of the Connachta) takes its name from them, although the territories of the Connachta also included at various times parts of southern and western Ulster and northern Leinster. Their traditional capital was Cruachan, Ireland, Cruachan (modern Rathcroghan, County Roscommon). Origins The use of the word ''cúige'', earlier ''cóiced'', literally "fifth", to denote a province indicates the existence of a pentarchy in prehistory, whose members are believed to have been population groups the Connachta, the Ulaid (Ulster) and the Laigin (Leinster), the region of Mumu (Munster), and the central kingdom of Mide. This pentarchy appears to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fínsnechta Fledach
Fínsnechta Fledach mac Dúnchada (died 695) was High King of Ireland. Fínsnechta belonged to the southern Síl nÁedo Sláine sept of the Uí Néill and was King of Brega, in modern County Meath, Ireland. He was a grandson of Áed Sláine. His father Dúnchad had died in 659. His byname "Fledach" meant "the bountiful" or "the festive". High King He became King of Brega and High King in 675, after killing his predecessor, and first cousin, Cenn Fáelad in battle at Aircheltra, a place which is not identified. The ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' relate how Finsnechta won support by his generosity. Among those he won over were the king of Fir Rois and Saint Adomnán. According to this annal, he had been granted a stewardship by Cenn Fáelad, but was unsatisfied with this and, encouraged by his friend of Fir Rois, challenged Cenn Faelad to battle and won the kingship. He appears to have faced resistance from the King of Leinster, and a Battle of Loch Gabor (Lagore) was foug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conn Of The Hundred Battles
Conn Cétchathach (), or Conn of the Hundred Battles, son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was a legendary High King of Ireland who is claimed to be the ancestor of the Connachta, and through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Ireland in the early Middle Ages. Literary tradition Early life and accession The ''Annals of the Four Masters'' says that five roads to Tara, which had never been seen before, were discovered on the night of Conn's birth. According to the '' Lebor Gabála Érenn'', he took power after killing his predecessor Cathair Mór. In other sources his predecessor is Dáire Doimthech. The '' Lia Fáil'', the coronation stone at Tara which was said to roar when the rightful king stood on it, roared under Conn for the first time since Cúchulainn split it with his sword when it failed to roar for Lugaid Riab nDerg. In the saga ''Baile in Scáil'' ("The Phantom's Ecstatic Vision"), Conn treads on the stone by accident while walki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
