High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland ( ga, Éire Ghaelach) was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late prehistoric era until the early 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Normans co ...
held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to legendary figures.
Medieval and early modern
Irish literature
Irish literature comprises writings in the Irish, Latin, English and Scots ( Ulster Scots) languages on the island of Ireland. The earliest recorded Irish writing dates from the 7th century and was produced by monks writing in both Latin an ...
portrays an almost unbroken line of High Kings, ruling from the
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara ( ga, Teamhair or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Iri ...
over a hierarchy of lesser kings, stretching back thousands of years. Modern historians believe this scheme was crafted in the 8th century from the various genealogical traditions of powerful dynasties, and intended to justify their status by projecting it far into the past.
Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
Dáibhí Iarla Ó Cróinín (born 29 August 1954) is an Irish historian and authority on Hiberno-Latin texts, noted for his significant mid-1980s discovery in a manuscript in Padua of the "lost" Irish 84-year Easter table. Ó Cróinín was Profe ...
, "Ireland, 400–800", in Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (ed.), ''A New History of Ireland 1: Prehistoric and Early Ireland'', Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2005, pp. 182–234. John T. Koch
John T. Koch is an American academic, historian and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2006, ABC Clio). He ...
explains: "Although the
kingship 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 a ...
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".
The concept of national kingship is first articulated in the 7th century, but only became a political reality in the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
, and even then not a consistent one.
While the High Kings' degree of control varied, they never ruled Ireland as a
politically unified state, as the High King was conceived of as an overlord exercising
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...
over, and receiving tribute from, the independent kingdoms beneath him.
[Francis John Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', London, 1973,]
Sacred High Kings
Early Irish kingship was
sacred
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
in character. In some early Irish sources, High Kings can gain their power through a marriage to, or sexual relationship with, a
sovereignty goddess
Sovereignty goddess is a scholarly term, almost exclusively used in Celtic studies (although parallels for the idea have been claimed in other traditions, usually under the label ''hieros gamos''). The term denotes a goddess who, personifying a te ...
. The High King is free from blemish, enforces symbolic ''buada'' (prerogatives) and avoids symbolic ''
geasa
A ' or ' (pl. ') is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or curse, yet the observance of which can also bring power and blessings. It is also used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting s ...
'' (
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
s).
According to 7th- and 8th-century law tracts, a hierarchy of kingship and clientship progressed from the ''rí tuaithe'' (king of a single
petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is a monarchy, kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the Heptarchy#List of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, numerou ...
) through the ''ruiri'' (a ''rí'' who was overking of several petty kingdoms) to a ''rí ruirech'' (a ''rí'' who was a provincial overking). (See
Rí
Rí, or commonly ríg (genitive), is an ancient Gaelic word meaning 'king'. It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings, and those of similar rank. While the Modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish ...
.)
Each king ruled directly only within the bounds of his own
petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is a monarchy, kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the Heptarchy#List of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, numerou ...
and was responsible for ensuring good government by exercising ''fír flaithemon'' (rulers' truth). His responsibilities included convening its ''óenach'' (popular assembly), collecting taxes, building public works, external relations, defence, emergency legislation, law enforcement, and promulgating legal judgment.
The lands in a petty kingdom were held
allodial
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defens ...
ly by various ''fine'' (
agnatic
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
kingroups) of freemen. The king occupied the apex of a pyramid of clientship within the petty kingdom. This pyramid progressed from the unfree population at its base up to the heads of noble ''fine'' held in immediate clientship by the king. Thus the king was drawn from the dominant ''fine'' within the ''cenél'' (a wider kingroup encompassing the noble ''fine'' of the petty kingdom).
The kings of 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 ...
are kings in this sacred sense, but it is clear that the old concept of kingship coexisted alongside
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
for several generations.
Diarmait mac Cerbaill
Diarmait mac Cerbaill (died ) was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ''ban-feis'' or marriage to goddess of the land.
While many later stor ...
, king of Tara in the middle of the 6th century, may have been the last king to have "married" the land. Diarmait died at the hands of
Áed Dub mac Suibni
Áed Dub mac Suibni (died c. 588) was an Irish king of the Dál nAraidi in the over-kingdom of Ulaid (in modern Ulster). He may have been king of the Ulaid. Áed was succeeded by his great-nephew Fiachnae mac Báetáin.
Áed Dub — Black ...
; some accounts from the following century state that he died by the mythic
Threefold death
In algebraic geometry, a 3-fold or threefold is a 3-dimensional algebraic variety.
The Mori program
In algebraic geometry, the minimal model program is part of the birational classification of algebraic varieties. Its goal is to construct a bira ...
appropriate to a sacral king.
Adomnán
Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of Co ...
's ''Life'' tells how Saint
Columba
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
forecast the same death for Áed Dub. The same Threefold Death is said in a late poem to have befallen Diarmait's predecessor,
Muirchertach macc Ercae
Muirchertach mac Muiredaig (died c. 534), called Mac Ercae, Muirchertach Macc Ercae and Muirchertach mac Ercae, was said to be High King of Ireland in the 6th century. The Irish annals contain little reliable information on his life, and the survi ...
, and even the usually reliable
Annals of Ulster
The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...
record Muirchertach's death by drowning in a vat of wine.
A second sign that sacred kingship did not disappear with the arrival of Christianity is the supposed lawsuit between
Congal Cáech
Congal Cáech (also Congal Cláen) was a king of the Cruthin of Dál nAraidi in the medieval Irish province of Ulaid, from around 626 to 637. He was king of Ulaid from 627–637 and, according to some sources, High King of Ireland.
Origins
Whil ...
, king of 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
Domnall mac Áedo
Domnall mac Áedo (died 642), also known as Domnall II, Was an Irish king and son of Áed mac Ainmuirech and his consort Land, the daughter of Áed Guaire mac Amalgada of Airgíalla. Domnall was High King of Ireland from 628 until his death. He be ...
. Congal was supposedly blinded in one eye by Domnall's bees, from whence his byname Cáech (half-blind or squinting), this injury rendering him imperfect and unable to remain High King. The enmity between Domnall and Congal can more prosaically be laid at the door of the rivalry between the
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into the ...
and the kings of Ulaid, but that a king had to be whole in body appears to have been accepted at this time.
Succession order
The business of Irish succession is rather complicated because of the nature of kingship in Ireland before the
Norman take-over of 1171. Ireland was divided into a multiplicity of kingdoms, with some kings owing allegiance to others from time to time, and succession rules (insofar as they existed) varied. Kings were often succeeded by their sons, but often other branches of the dynasty took a turn—whether by agreement or by force of arms is rarely clear. The king-lists and other early sources reveal little about how and why a particular person became king.
To add to the uncertainty, genealogies were often edited many generations later to improve an ancestor's standing within a kingdom, or to insert him into a more powerful kindred. The uncertain practices in local kingship cause similar problems when interpreting the succession to the high kingship.
The High King of Ireland was essentially a ceremonial, pseudo-federal overlord (where his over-lordship was even recognised), who exercised actual power only within the realm of which he was actually king. In the case of the
southern branch of the Uí Néill, this would have been the
Kingdom of Meath
Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island.
At its greatest extent, it included all of ...
(now the counties of
Meath,
Westmeath
"Noble above nobility"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 =
, subdivis ...
and part of
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
). High Kings from the northern branch ruled various kingdoms in what eventually became the province of Ulster.
In 1002, the high kingship of Ireland was wrested from
Mael Sechnaill II of the southern Uí Néill by ''
Brian "Boruma" mac Cennédig'' of the
Kingdom of Munster
The Kingdom of Munster ( ga, Ríocht Mhumhain) was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland which existed in the south-west of the island from at least the 1st century BC until 1118. According to traditional Irish history found in the ''Annals of the Four M ...
. Some historians have called this a "usurpation" of the throne. Others have pointed out that no one had a strict legal right to the kingship
and that Brian "had as much right to the high throne as any Uí Neill and... displayed an ability sadly lacking amongst most of the Uí Néill who had preceded him."
Brian was killed in the
Battle of Clontarf
The Battle of Clontarf ( ga, Cath Chluain Tarbh) took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the forc ...
in 1014. Mael Sechnaill II was restored to the High Kingship but he died in 1022. From 1022 through the
Norman take-over of 1171, the High Kingship was held alongside "Kings with Opposition".
Early Christian High Kings
Even at the time the law tracts were being written, these petty kingdoms were being swept away by newly emerging dynasties of dynamic overkings. The most successful of these early dynasties were the
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into the ...
(encompassing descendants of
Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...
, such as the
Cenél nEógain
Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history
*Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...
), who (as kings of
Tara) had been conquering petty kingdoms, expelling their rulers, and agglomerating their territories under the direct rule of their expanding kindred since the fifth century.
Gaelic and foreign, pagan and Christian ideas were comingled to form a new idea of Irish kingship. The native idea of a sacred kingship was integrated with the Christian idea in the ceremony of
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
, the relationship of king to overking became one of ''
tigerna
A tiarna (Irish), or tighearna ( Scottish), both from the Old Irish tigerna, is a lord in the Gaelic world and languages. An Ard Tiarna is a "high lord", approximately equal in rank to a count or earl, although many of such higher rank still happe ...
'' (lord) to king and ''imperium'' (
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
) began to merge with ''dominium'' (ownership).
The
Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
was well disposed to the idea of a strong political authority. Its clerics developed the theory of a high kingship of Ireland and wrote tracts exhorting kings to rule rather than reign. In return, the ''paruchiae'' (monastic federations) of the Irish church received royal patronage in the form of shrines, building works, land, and protection.
The concept of a high king was occasionally recorded in various annals, such as an entry regarding the death of
Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid
Máel Sechnaill mac Máel Ruanaida (Modern Irish: ''Maolsheachlann Mac Maolruanaidh''), also known as Máel Sechnaill I, anglicised as Malachy MacMulrooney (died 27 November 862) was High King of Ireland. The Annals of Ulster use the Old Irish ti ...
in 862 in the Annals of Ulster, which lists him as
''rí Érenn uile'' (king of all Ireland), a title which his successor
Aed Finliath
Aed or AED may refer to:
People
* Áed (given name)
* Aed Carabao (Yuenyong Opakul, born 1954), Thai leader of the band Carabao
Science and medicine
* Antiepileptic drug
* Automated external defibrillator
* Atomic-emission detector, in chromat ...
apparently never was granted. It is unclear what political reality was behind this title.
Later High Kings
By the twelfth century, the dual process of agglomeration of territory and consolidation of kingship saw the handful of remaining provincial kings abandoning the traditional royal sites for the cities, employing ministers and governors, receiving advice from an ''oireacht'' (a body of noble counsellors), presiding at reforming synods, and maintaining standing armies.
Early royal succession had been by alternation between collateral branches of the wider dynasty, but succession was now confined to a series of father/son, brother/brother and uncle/nephew successions within a small royal ''fine'' marked by an exclusive surname.
These compact families (the
Uí Briain
The O'Brien dynasty ( ga, label= Classical Irish, Ua Briain; ga, label=Modern Irish, Ó Briain ; genitive ''Uí Bhriain'' ) is a noble house of Munster, founded in the 10th century by Brian Boru of the Dál gCais (Dalcassians). After becomi ...
of Munster, the
Meic Lochlainn
The Meic Lochlann, also spelt as Mic Lochlainn, and Mac Lochlainn, were a leading branch of the Cenél nEógain, who were in turn a segment of the Uí Néill. The Meic Lochlainn descended from Domnall Dabaill (died 915), son of Áed Findliath. Ano ...
of the North, the
Uí Conchubhair of Connacht) intermarried and competed against each other on a national basis so that on the eve of the
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
* Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
* Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
incursion of 1169 the agglomeration/consolidation process was complete and their provincial kingdoms divided, dismembered and transformed into fiefdoms held from (or in rebellion against) one of their number acting as king of Ireland.
See also
*
History of Ireland
The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 33,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quaterna ...
*
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 Fo ...
*
List of Irish kingdoms
This article lists some of the attested Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic kingdoms of Early Medieval Ireland prior to the Norman invasion of Ireland, Norman invasion of 1169-72.
For much of this period, the island was divided into numerous Irish clans, ...
*
Lists of Irish kings
This page serves as an index of lists of kings of the Gaelic kingdoms of Ireland of the Early Medieval period.
*List of High Kings of Ireland
*Kings of Ailech
*Kings of Airgíalla
*Kings of Brega
*Kings of Breifne
*Kings of Connacht
*Kings of Dá ...
Notes
References
* ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn
''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...
''
Geoghegan Clan* John Francis Byrne, 1973, ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', Dublin
* ''
Annals of the Four Masters
The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...
''
*
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 ...
, 1636,
Foras Feasa ar Éirinn
''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' – literally 'Foundation of Knowledge on Ireland', but most often known in English as 'The History of Ireland' – is a narrative history of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating, written in Irish and completed .Bernadette Cunnin ...
High King Niall: the most fertile man in Ireland
* ''
The Times Online
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', The Times, 15 January 2006
* Laoise T. Moore et al.,
A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic IrelandAm. J. Hum. Genet., 78:334–338, 2006
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, High King Of
Medieval Ireland
Cycles of the Kings
Irish mythology