Iarmhumhain (older spellings: Iarmuman, Iarmumu or Iarluachair) was a Kingdom in the early Christian period of Ireland in west

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 ...

. Its ruling dynasty was related to the main ruling dynasty of Munster known as 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 ...

. Its ruling branch was called the

Eóganacht Locha Léin __NOTOC__ Eóganacht Locha Léin or Uí Cairpre Luachra were a branch of the ruling Eóganachta of Munster. Their territory was in Iarmuman or West Munster. Luachair (Lúachra) is the old name of a large district on the borders of Co Cork, Kerry an ...

or Ui Chairpri Lúachra. Their center was around Killarney,

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

at Loch Léin. The name Iarluachair means west of the

Sliabh Luachra Sliabh Luachra (), sometimes anglicised Slieve Logher, is an upland region in Munster, Ireland. It is on the borders of counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, and bounded to the south by the River Blackwater. It includes the Mullaghareirk Mounta ...

mountains. The dynasty was established in the 5th century with the kingdom becoming semi-independent of the Munster kings at Cashel in the 6th century. They ruled over smaller kingdoms in west Munster such as the Ciarraige Luachra,

Corcu Duibne The Corcu Duibne, which means "seed or tribe of Duibhne" (the name of a goddess), was a notable kingdom in prehistoric and medieval County Kerry, Ireland which included the Dingle Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula and connecting lands. The tribe ...

and

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 at the height of their power may have ruled over areas of west

Thomond Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nenag ...

including the

Corcu Baiscinn The Corcu Baiscind were an early Érainn people or kingdom of what is now southern County Clare in Munster. They descended from Cairpre Baschaín, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Múscraige and Corcu Duibne ...

and

Corco Mruad Corcomroe () is a barony in County Clare, Ireland. It is the southern half of the Gaelic '' tuath'' of ''Corco Modhruadh''. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used the adm ...

and perhaps even had some sovereignty over 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 ...

of County Limerick and the Eóganacht Raithlind of

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. Their power was broken in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. The transference of the overlordship of the Ciarraige Luachra to direct Cashel control in the reign of

Feidlimid mac Cremthanin Fedelmid mac Crimthainn was the King of Munster between 820 and 846. He was numbered as a member of the Céli Dé, an abbot of Cork Abbey and Clonfert Abbey, and possibly a bishop. After his death, he was later considered a saint in some mart ...

(died 846) signified this. The last time the title King of Iarmuman was used in the ''Annals of Innisfallen'' was 791 and in the ''Annals of Ulster'' 833. The dynasty then begins to use the title king of Loch Léin.

Kings of Iarmuman

* Coirpre Luachra mac Cuirc (mid 5th century) * Maine mac Coirpri * Dauí Iarlaithe mac Maithni (circa 500) * Cobthach mac Dauí Iarlaithe * Crimthann mac Cobthaig (6th century) * Áed Bennán mac Crimthainn (died 618) * Áed Dammán mac Crimthainn (died 633) * Máel Dúin mac Áedo Bennán (died 661) * Congal mac Máele Dúin (died 690) * ''AI700.1 Kl. Death of Mael Bracha, king of IarMumu.'' (see Annals of Inisfallen) * Cú Dínaisc mac Foirchellaig (died 717) * Áed mac Conaing (died 734) * Cairpre mac Con Dínaisc (died 747) * Máel Dúin mac Áedo (died 786) * Cú Chongelt mac Cairpri (died 791) * Áed Allán mac Coirpri (died 803) * Cobthach mac Máele Dúin (died 833) * Máel Crón mac Cobthaig (died 838)

References

* ''Annals of Innisfallen'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
a
University College Cork
* ''Annals of Ulster'' a

a
University College Cork
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, {{DEFAULTSORT:Iarmuman Kings of Iarmuman Kings of Munster Kingdoms of medieval Ireland