Síol Anmchadha was a sub-kingdom or lordship of Uí Maine, and ruled by an offshoot of the Uí Maine called the Síol Anmchadha (''"the seed of Anmchadh"''), from whom the territory took its name. It was located in

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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

History

At its largest extent, the

Kings of Síol Anmchadha Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

ruled all the land on the west shore of

Lough Derg (Shannon) Lough Derg, historically Lough Dergart ( ga, Loch Deirgeirt), is a freshwater lake in the Shannon River Basin, Ireland. It is the third-biggest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Neagh and Lough Corrib). It is a long, narrow lake, with ...

as far south as Thomond; the land between the Shannon and

Suck Suck may refer to: *Suction, the force exerted by a partial vacuum *.sucks, an Internet top-level domain Arts and entertainment Music * Suck (band), a South African hard rock group * Suck, drummer for the 1990s Japanese punk band Teengenerate * ...

rivers; and a corridor of land, known as Lusmagh, across the Shannon in

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 ...

, in the direction of Birr. The ruling dynasty later took the surname Ó Madadháin, anglicised as Maddan or Madden. In the later medieval era they were sometime vassals of the Earls of Ulster and their successors, The

Clanricarde Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Te ...

Legacy

In 1651, after the area had been incorporated into the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label= Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

, land belonging to the Madden, Kelly, Burke and other families was appropriated during the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland w ...

. In particular, the English brothers

John Eyre John Eyre may refer to: Politicians *John Eyre (died 1581), Member of Parliament for Wiltshire and Salisbury * John Eyre (died 1639), MP for Cricklade * John Eyre (1659–1709), MP for Galway Borough, son of the above * John Eyre (died 1745), MP f ...

and Edward Eyre took much land. " Eyrecourt" in the area is named after them (it was originalled called ''Dún an Uchta'') and their descendant became Baron Eyre. The name Síol Anmchadha survives to the present day in the placename Baile Mór Síol Anmchadha, the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

version of Lawrencetown,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Local placenames

* Tynagh *

Portumna Portumna ( - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where the River Shann ...

* Eyrecourt *

Woodford, County Galway Woodford () is a village in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland. It is situated between the River Shannon and the Slieve Aughty mountains. History The village's industrial history is indicated by a variant of its Irish name, ''Gráig na ...

References

* ''O'Madáin: History of the O'Maddens of Hy-Many'',

Gerard Madden Gerard Madden is a native of Whitegate, County Clare, and is the author of a number of books dealing with the ancestry of Irish families, including the Maddens of County Galway. References *Holy Island, Jewel of the Lough, 1990, reprinted 1996, ...

, 2004. . * ''The Colahans - A Remarkable Galway Family'',

Diarmuid Ó Cearbhaill Diarmuid Ó Cearbhaill, Irish academic, served in the Department of Finance in Dublin before returning to University College Galway to serve as Léachtóir le Geilleagar agus Tráchtáil. He is honorary editor of the Journal of the Galway Archae ...

, Journal of the

Galway Archaeological and Historical Society The Galway Archaeological and Historical Society was founded on 21 March 1900, at the Railway Hotel, Galway. It promotes the study of the archaeology and history of the west of Ireland. Since 1900, the Society has published 70 volumes of the ''J ...

, volume 54, 2002, pp. 121–140. * ''Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions'', Paul MacCotter, Four Courts Press, 2008, pp. 133–134.

External links

* https://archive.org/stream/tribescustomsofh00odonuoft/tribescustomsofh00odonuoft_djvu.txt History of County Galway Connacht Geography of County Galway Kingdoms of medieval Ireland {{Galway-geo-stub

History

Legacy

Local placenames

See also

References

External links