Eóganacht Áine or Eóganacht Áine Cliach was a princely house 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 ...

, dynasty of Munster during the 5th–12th centuries. They took their name from the Hill of

Áine Áine () is an Irish goddess of summer, wealth and sovereignty. She is associated with midsummer and the sun,MacKillop, James (1998) ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' Oxford: Oxford University Press pp.10, 16, 128 and is sometimes represent ...

( ga, Cnoc Áine) near the present day village of Knockainy,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

. This region ( ga, tuatha) of ''Cliú'' is centred on the barony of Smallcounty in eastern Limerick. The nearby village of

Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. It is situated on the R515 ...

was the ecclesiastical center of Munster at the time. The clan was descended from Ailill mac Nad Froích, the brother of Óengus mac Nad Froích (died 489), the first Christian King of Munster. The Eóganacht Áine were considered part of the 'inner circle' of Eóganachta dynasties., p. 536 This also included the

Eóganacht Chaisil Eóganacht Chaisil were a branch of the Eóganachta, the ruling dynasty of Munster between the 5th and 10th centuries. They took their name from Cashel (County Tipperary) which was the capital of the early Catholic kingdom of Munster. They were ...

and Eóganacht Glendamnach branches. These three branches were based in Aurmumu (Eastern Munster) around the Galtee Mountains, and the three branches rotated the kingship of Munster in the 7th and much of the 8th centuries. This rotation was broken by

Máel Dúin mac Áedo Máel Dúin mac Áedo (died 786) was a possible King of Munster from the Eóganacht Locha Léin branch of the Eóganachta. He was the son of Áed Bennán mac Conaing (died 733), a king of Iarmuman or West Munster and great great grandson of ...

of Eoganacht Locha Léin. The main clan in the 7th and 8th centuries were known as the Ua nÉnna, descended from Énda mac Crimthainn, the grandson of Ailill. One of the last Kings of Munster from this house was Cenn Fáelad hua Mugthigirn. By the 12th century, the ruling house was the Ó Ciarmhaic or O'Kirwick/Kerwick and Kirby. They were ruined by the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

References

Sources

* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, * Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), ''Early Christian Ireland'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
Ireland's History in Maps

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eoganacht Aine Kings of Munster Áine Eóganachta