The Dáirine (Dárine, Dáirfine, Dáirfhine, Dárfine, Dárinne, Dairinne), later known dynastically as the

Corcu Loígde The Corcu Loígde (Corcu Lóegde, Corco Luigde, Corca Laoighdhe, Laidhe), meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Mun ...

and associated, were the proto-historical rulers of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

before the rise of the

Eóganachta The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta () were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, an ...

in the 7th century AD. They were derived from or closely associated with the

Darini The Darini (Δαρῖνοι) (manuscript variant: Darnii �άρνιοι were a people of ancient Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in south Antrim and north Down. Their name implies descent from an ancestor called ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

and were also related to the

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh (Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and in ...

and

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is now ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

.O'Rahilly 1946 Their ancestors appear frequently in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

. In historical times the Dáirine were represented, as stated, by the

, the

Uí Fidgenti The Uí Fidgenti, Fidgeinti, Fidgheinte, Fidugeinte, Fidgente, or Fidgeinte ( or ;In the pronunciation, the -d- is silent, and the -g- becomes a glide, producing what might be anglicized ''Feeyenti'' or ''Feeyenta''. "descendants of, or of the ...

and

Uí Liatháin The Uí Liatháin (IPA: �iːˈlʲiəhaːnʲ were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example ''The Expulsion of th ...

, as well as a few other early historical kindreds of both Munster and Ulster. In ancient genealogical schemes, the historical

Dál Fiatach Dál Fiatach was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic dynastic-grouping and the name of their territory in the north-east of Ireland during the Middle Ages. It was part of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and they were its main ruling dynasty for most of Ulaid's ...

of Ulaid also belong to the Dáirine.

History

Dáirine can sometimes refer to the

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 se ...

dynasties as a whole instead of the distinct royal septs mentioned above. The Dáirine of Munster were said to descend from a certain

Dáire Dáire is an Old Irish name which fell out of use at an early period, remaining restricted essentially to legendary and ancestral figures, usually male. It has come back into fashion since the 18th century. The anglicised form of this name is Dar ...

(''*Dārios''), both

Dáire Doimthech Dáire Doimthech (Dáire "poor house"), alias Dáire Sírchréchtach ("the ever-wounded"), son of Sithbolg, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland, and one of the eponymous ancestors of the proto-historical Dáirine and historical ...

(Sírchrechtach), ancestor of the Corcu Loígde, and from

Dáire mac Dedad Dáire mac Dedad (Dáire, son of Dega) is the eponymous ancestor of the Dáirine of Munster and father of the legendary Cú Roí mac Dáire. These further associate him with the prehistoric Darini of Ulster. He is probably identical with Dáire ...

, father of

Cú Roí Cú Roí mac Dáire (Cú Ruí, Cú Raoi) is a king of Munster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is usually portrayed as a warrior with superhuman abilities and a master of disguise possessed of magical powers. His name probably means "ho ...

. The two are quite probably identical.Pokorny 1918 The medieval genealogists were aware of the confusion and noted it in the Book of Glendalough (Rawlinson B 502). At some point the pedigree tradition of the Corcu Loígde diverged in its forms and ceased to closely match those more common elsewhere in Ireland. The Clanna Dedad take their name from Cú Roí's grandfather Dega, son of Sen (the Old). Notable is that the Dáirine were greatly renowned as a warlike military

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

, in contrast to their agricultural and relatively peaceful successors. According to the Táin Bó Flidais, the Clanna Dedad were one of the three warrior-races (laech-aicmi) of Ireland, the others being the Clanna Rudraige (their Ulaid cousins), and the Gamanrad of Irrus Domnann, who were related to the

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 Leinster ...

. However, the Dáirine appear to be most remembered in the surviving corpus for their allegedly bloody and harsh rule, in some tales even coming across as monstrous. This portrayal may or may not have any basis in ancient fact, and is possibly the invention of historians and storytellers. Among the known surviving

septs A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish clan, Scottish or List of Irish clans, Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may ind ...

of princely origins in Munster are

O'Driscoll O'Driscoll (and its derivative Driscoll) is an Irish surname stemming from the Gaelic ''Ó hEidirsceoil'' clan. The O'Driscolls were rulers of the Dáirine sept of the Corcu Loígde until the early modern period. Their ancestors were Kings o ...

O'Leary History Ancient The Uí Laoghaire clan, today associated with the Uibh Laoghaire parish in County Cork, is considered by scholars to have originated in the early Middle Ages on the south-west coast, in the area of Ros Ó gCairbre (Rosscarbery), ...

Coffey Coffey may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Coffey (surname) * Coffey Anderson (born 1978), American country and gospel singer and songwriter Places * Coffey, Missouri, a city in Daviess County, Missouri * Coffey County, Kansas * Coffey County Airport, ...

Hennessy Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France. It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ma ...

and

Flynn Flynn is an Irish surname or first name, an anglicised form of the Irish ''Ó Floinn'', meaning "descendant of Flann" (a byname meaning "reddish (complexion)" or "ruddy"). The name is more commonly used as a surname rather than a first name. A ...

, all descendants of Lugaid Mac Con. In

the Dál Fiatach septs are

Haughey Haughey ( ga, Ó hEochaidh) is an Irish surname of noble origins. Spelling variations include: Hoey, McCaughey and McKeogh, among others. The Haugheys are descendants of the ancient Dál Fiatach dynasty, rulers of Ulaid. According to Irish ...

Hoey Hoey is an Irish surname. Spelling variations include: O'Hoey, Haughey, McCaughey and McKeogh, among others. The original Irish spelling is Ó h Eochaidh. The Hoeys are descendants of the ancient Dál Fiatach dynasty, rulers of the Ulaid and fo ...

and

Donlevy Donlevy is a firstname and surname of Irish origin. Also spelt as MacDonlevy, Donleavy, Dunleavy, MacAleavey, and McAlevey, it derives from the Irish ''Mac Duinnshléibhe'', meaning "son of Donn of the mountain". ''Ó Duinnshléibhe'' is a varia ...

Dunleavy Donlevy is a firstname and surname of Irish origin. Also spelt as MacDonlevy, Donleavy, Dunleavy, MacAleavey, and McAlevey, it derives from the Irish ''Mac Duinnshléibhe'', meaning "son of Donn of the mountain". ''Ó Duinnshléibhe'' is a variant ...

.The Kingdom of Ulster
by Dennis Walsh The semi-historical

Mongfind Mongfind (or Mongfhionn in modern Irish)—meaning "fair hair" or "white hair"—is a figure from Irish legend. She is said to have been the wife, of apparent Munster origins, of the legendary High King Eochaid Mugmedón and mother of his eldes ...

and

Crimthann mac Fidaig Crimthann Mór, son of Fidach , also written Crimthand Mór, was a semi-mythological king of Munster and High King of Ireland of the 4th century. He gained territory in Britain and Gaul, but died poisoned by his sister Mongfind. It is possible t ...

may have derived from peripheral septs of the Dáirine, but this cannot be proved.

Figures

Legendary figures belonging to the Dáirine, descendants (and family) of

, include: * Cú Roí mac Dáire *

Lugaid mac Con Roí :''See Lugaid for other figures of the same name, and Lug for the god the name derives from.'' In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Lugaid mac Con Roí was the son of Cú Roí mac Dáire. He was also known as Lugaid mac Trí Con ("son of thre ...

Conganchnes mac Dedad Conganchnes (''"the horny-skin"'' in Irish) is a hero mentioned in the legend of the death of Celtchar mac Uthechair; he does not, however, kill him, but is killed himself. Conganchnes is a son of Dedu mac Sin or sometimes Cú Roí. He went to U ...

* Fiatach Finn *

Lugaid Loígde Lugaid Loígde "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", also known as Lugaid mac Dáire, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland. He is a son of Dáire Doimthech, ancestor of the Dáirine, and gives his epithet to their principal royal sept, the ...

Rechtaid Rígderg Rechtaid Rígderg ("red king"), son of Lugaid Laigdech, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing Macha Mong Ruad, daughter of his father's killer, Áed Rúad. He ruled f ...

Mac Con Lugaid Mac Con, often known simply as Mac Con, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the Corcu Loígde, and thus to the Dáirine. His father was Macnia mac Lugdach, and his mothe ...

Fothad Cairpthech and Fothad Airgthech Fothad Cairpthech ("chariot-fighter"), and Fothad Airgthech ("pertaining to silver"), sons of Lugaid mac Con and Fuinche, daughter of Nár, were, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, joint High Kings of Ireland. According ...

Eochaid Étgudach Eochaid or Eochu Étgudach ("possessing clothes") or Etgedach ("negligent"?), son of Dáire Doimthech, son of Conghal, son of Eadaman, son of Mal, son of Lugaid, son of Íth, son of Breogán, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical ...

Óengus Bolg Óengus Bolg, son of Lugaid, son of Mac Nia, son of Mac Con, son (or descendant) of Lugaid Loígde, son of Dáire Doimthech,O'Brien, p. 262O'Donovan was a king of the Corcu Loígde, and an ancestor of the Eóganachta "inner circle" through his dau ...

Byrne 2001, p. 193Charles-Edwards 2000, p. 611 *

Aimend In Irish mythology and genealogy, Aimend is the daughter of Óengus Bolg, king of the Dáirine or Corcu Loígde. She marries Conall Corc, founder of the Eóganachta dynasties, and through him is an ancestor of the "inner circle" septs of Eógana ...

* (

) * (

)

In the Ulster Cycle

Fled Bricrenn ''Fled Bricrenn'' (Old Irish " Bricriu's Feast") is a story from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Bricriu, an inveterate troublemaker, invites the nobles of the Ulaid to a feast at his new '' bruiden'' (hostel, banquet hall) at Dún Rudraige ...

* Mesca Ulad *

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...

Táin Bó Flidhais ''Táin Bó Flidhais'', also known as the ''Mayo Táin'', is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is ''Táin Bó Cúailnge''. ' ...

Mac Con Cycle

Cath Maige Mucrama The ''Cath Maige Mucrama'' (in English the Battle of Mag Mucrama) is an early Middle Irish language tale which forms part of the Cycles of the Kings. Content The cast includes several major figures from Irish pseudo-history, Ailill Aulom, his son ...

Notes

References

* Best, R.I., Osborn Bergin, M.A. O'Brien and Anne O'Sullivan (eds)
The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála
6 vols. Dublin: DIAS, 1954–83
Fland mac Lonain cecinit.
* Byrne, Francis John, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings''. Four Courts Press. 2nd revised edition, 2001. * Charles-Edwards, T.M., ''Early Christian Ireland''. Cambridge. 2000. * Hull, Vernan
"Conall Corc and the Corcu Loígde"
in ''Proceedings of the Modern Languages Association of America 62'' (1947): 887–909. *

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

, with David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen (trans.)
The History of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating
4 Vols. London: David Nutt for the Irish Texts Society. 1902–14. * MacNeill, Eoin
"Early Irish Population Groups: their nomenclature, classification and chronology"
in ''Proceedings of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

(C) 29''. 1911. pp. 59–114 * Meyer, Kuno (ed.)
"The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories"
in ''Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 8''. Halle/Saale, Max Niemeyer. 1912. Pages 291–338. * Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, "Corcu Loígde: Land and Families", in ''Cork: History and Society. Interdisciplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County'', edited by Patrick O'Flanagan and Cornelius G. Buttimer. Dublin: Geography Publications. 1993. * Ó Corráin, Donnchadh (ed.)
Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502
University College, Cork: Corpus of Electronic Texts. 1997. * Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, "Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland", in Foster, Roy (ed.), ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland''. Oxford University Press. 2001. pgs. 1–52. * O'Donovan, John (ed. and tr.), Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616. 7 vols. Royal Irish Academy. Dublin. 1848–51. 2nd edition, 1856. * O'Donovan, John (ed.), "The Genealogy of Corca Laidhe", i
Miscellany of the Celtic Society
Dublin. 1849
alternative scan
* O'Hart, John
Irish Pedigrees
Dublin. 5th edition, 1892. * O'Rahilly, Thomas F., ''Early Irish History and Mythology''.

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

. 1946. * Pokorny, Julius
"Beiträge zur ältesten Geschichte Irlands (3. Érainn, Dári(n)ne und die Iverni und Darini des Ptolomäus)"
in ''

Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie The ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was established in 1897 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern.Busse, Peter E. "''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie''." In ''Ce ...

12'' (1918): 323–57. * Sproule, David
"Origins of the Éoganachta"
in ''Ériu 35'' (1984): pp. 31–37. * Sproule, David
"Politics and pure narrative in the stories about Corc of Cashel"
in ''Ériu 36'' (1985): pp. 11–28.

DIL

eDIL – Dictionary of the Irish Language
Letter: D1 (D-Degóir), Columns 35 and 36

Ulster Cycle

* Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover (eds.), ''Ancient Irish Tales''. Henry Holt and Company. 1936. * Gantz, Jeffrey (tr.), ''Early Irish Myths and Sagas''. Penguin. 1981. * Hellmuth, Petra Sabine, "A Giant Among Kings and Heroes: Some preliminary thoughts on the character Cú Roí mac Dáire in medieval Irish literature", in ''Emania 17'' (1998): 5–11. * Kinsella, Thomas (tr.), ''The Tain''. Oxford. 1969.

Mac Con

Ailill Aulom, Mac Con, and Find ua Báiscne

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dairine Munster Kingdoms of ancient Ireland Tribes of ancient Ireland Celtic kingdoms Historical Celtic peoples O'Donovan family