Meath (;

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

: ''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

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

(which takes its name from the kingdom), all of Westmeath, and parts of

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bal ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the mee ...

, Louth and

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...

History

''Mide'' originally referred to the area around the

Hill of Uisneach The Hill of Uisneach or Ushnagh ( ga, Uisneach or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial site in the barony of Rathconrath in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is a protected national monument. It consists of numerous monuments and earthworks— prehisto ...

County 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 ...

, where the festival of Beltaine was celebrated. The larger

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Meath, between the Irish Sea and the Shannon, is traditionally said to have been created by

Túathal Techtmar Túathal Techtmar (; 'the legitimate'), son of Fíachu Finnolach, was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition. He is said to be the ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties through his grandso ...

, an exemplar king, in the first century from parts of the other four provinces. In the fourth and fifth centuries its territories were taken over by 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 t ...

from

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and ...

and they pushed out

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 Leinsterm ...

tribes. The Uí Néill assumed the ancient titles of Kings of Uisnech in ''Mide'' and

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 literatur ...

in ''Brega'' and claimed a cattle-tribute, the ''Bóroma Laigen'', on the Laigin. The Uí Failge, under Failge Berraide, were finally expelled from the plain of Mide with the battle of Druim Derg in 514. The Uí Enechglaiss were an early paramount

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

of the Laigin. An ogham stone found south of Slane suggests they controlled the ''Brega'' area in County Meath together with Carbury Hill and the plains of Kildare. During the early 6th century, they were expelled across the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow ...

. The Uí Failge and Uí Bairrche belonged to the Laigin but may also be associated with the Iverni. In

medieval Ireland Ireland in the Middle Ages may refer to: *History of Ireland (400–800), Ireland in the early Middle Ages *History of Ireland (800–1169), Ireland in the high Middle Ages *History of Ireland (1169–1536), Ireland in the late Middle Ages See al ...

, the Kings of Mide were of the Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the

. They came to dominate their

Southern Uí Néill The Southern Uí Néill ( ga, Uí Néill an Deiscirt, IPA: �iːˈnʲeːl̪ʲˈanˠˈdʲɛʃcəɾˠtʲ were that branch of the Uí Néill dynasty that invaded and settled in the Kingdom of Mide and its associated kingdoms. In the initial decades t ...

kindreds, including the Síl nÁedo Sláine in County Meath, the Uí Failghe and Uí Faelain tribes of the Laigin and the Kingdom of Dublin. Several were High Kings of Ireland. The position alternated with their kindred the

Northern Uí Néill The Northern Uí Néill is any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall we ...

for many centuries. The kingdom came under pressure in the 11th and 12th century from other provincial kings seeking the position of

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned an ...

and the Kingdom of Breifne under Tigernán Ua Ruairc. ''Mide'' was frequently overrun and partitioned and began to collapse as a coherent kingdom. Following 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 ...

, in 1172, the kingdom was awarded to Hugh de Lacy as the

Lordship of Meath The Lordship of Meath was an extensive seigneurial liberty in medieval Ireland that was awarded to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry II of England by the service of fifty knights and with almost royal authority. The Lordship was roughly co-extensive wit ...

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...

in his capacity as

Lord of Ireland The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...

. De Lacy took possession of the kingdom and the dynasty of the Ua Mael Sechlainn or O Melaghlins were forced west and settled on the east bank of the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Sha ...

in the barony of Clonlonan. Bearers of the name were noted as among the Gaelic nobility as late as the 1690s, though they had lost power long before. Melaugh is the more commonly associated name in Ireland today, though it is more often rendered as McLoughlin.

Province and diocese

Meath is also considered to have been one of five Provinces ( ga, cúige meaning "fifths") of Ireland, along with the four current provinces of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion 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 t ...

and

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 Kin ...

. The Diocese of Meath established by the Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111 had boundaries similar to those of the kingdom.

References

*"Clann Cholmain Kings of Mide 766–1184", pp. 195–196 in ''A New History of Ireland'', Vol. IX, ed. Byrne, Martin, Moody, 1984. *"{{cite book, url={{google books , plainurl=y , id=8F6CAAAAIAAJ, title=Irish Leaders and Learning Through the Ages, last=Walsh, first=Paul, publisher=Four Courts Press, year=2003, isbn=978-1-85182-543-1 *"King James II's Irish Army List", D'Alton, 18??

External links

*Ireland's History in Maps
Ancient Midhe and Brega, the southern Uí Neill
*Ireland's History in Maps

Kingdom of Meath Former countries in Ireland

History

Province and diocese

See also

References

External links