The Fothairt were a

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

people A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

based in

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 Ir ...

Peoples

The Fothairt are referenced in

Leabhar Ua Maine ''Leabhar Ua Maine'' (also ''Leabhar Uí Dubhagáin'', ''The Book of Hy-Many'' and RIA MS D ii 1) is an Irish genealogical compilation, created c. 1392–94. History Previously known as ''Leabhar Uí Dubhagáin'', after Seán Mór Ó Dubhagá ...

. Their genealogies are preserved in

Leabhar na nGenealach ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' ("Book of Genealogies") is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add m ...

, the

Great Book of Lecan The (Great) Book of Lecan (Irish: ''Leabhar (Mór) Leacáin'') (RIA, MS 23 P 2) is a medieval Irish manuscript written between 1397 and 1418 in Castle Forbes, Lecan (Lackan, Leckan; Irish ''Leacán''), in the territory of Tír Fhíacrach, ne ...

Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 502 Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B 502 is a medieval Irish manuscript which presently resides in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It ranks as one of the three major surviving Irish manuscripts to have been produced in pre-Norman Ireland, the t ...

, and/or Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 512. * ''Fothairt in Chairn'' - located in the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Forth, County Wexford. * ''Fothairt Mag Fea'' - located in the

of Forth, County Carlow. * ''Fotharta Fer Cúl'' - * ''Fotharta Airthir Liphe'' - located along the banks of the east Liffey. * ''Fotharta Airbrech fri Brí Ele aniar'' - bordering the

Kingdom of Uí Failghe The kingdom of Uí Fháilghe, ''Uí Failge'' (early spelling) or ''Uíbh Fhailí'' (modern spelling) () was a Gaelic-Irish kingdom which existed to 1550, the name of which (though not the territory) is preserved in the name of County Offaly (Iris ...

. * ''Fotharta Bile'', alias ''Fotharta File'' - * ''Fotharta Fea'' - * ''Fotharta Tuile'' - * ''Fotharta Imchlair'' (or ''in cláir'') - Clan Corpri, around Donaghmore,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

and near

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

* ''Fothar Breg'', alias ''Fothar Mac nDeichill'' of

Brega Brega , also known as ''Mersa Brega'' or ''Marsa al-Brega'' ( ar, مرسى البريقة , i.e. "Brega Seaport"), is a complex of several smaller towns, industry installations and education establishments situated in Libya on the Gulf of Sidra, ...

* ''Fotharta Maige Itha'' - around

Lough Swilly Lough Swilly () in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen, Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glaci ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, who were divided into the following seven ''Aicme'' or tribes: Ui Deaga, Ui Setna, Ui Dimai, Ui Eircc, Ui Chormaic, Ui Niath and Ui Duirrtheacht.

History

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 ...

writes that "The Fothairt were the original population group around the site of Bridgit's monastery at

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 cen ...

" (p. 197), further stating that the Uí Ercáin, a branch of the Uí Meic Cruaich (a sub-

sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ( ...

of the Fothairt) "are remembered in the 'Vita Tripartia' as having been specially favoured by Patrick, who blessed them (''Dobert Pátraic bendachtain ... for Uu hErcá huili'') and their king, Fergnae mac Cobthaig, who is also mentioned in the life of Fintan/Munnu of Tagmon, where he encounters the saint ''in campo Lyffi'' ('in the Liffy plain')." (p. 197). The kingship of Leinster was held from the mid-8th century to 1042 by the

Uí Dúnlainge The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons (or descendants) of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ancest ...

, who bolstered their early gains "by means of political marriage with Sárnat, daughter of Eochu mac Baíth of the Fothairt" (p. 197). A branch of the Forthairt, the Uí Brigti, explicitly claimed a connection with Bridgit (p. 198). In addition, two kings of Forthairt, Fergus mac Móenaig and Dub dá Chrich mac aui Cellaig mec Triein, "as well as 'many others, omitted for the sake of brevity'", were killed at the battle of Ath Senaig (Ballyshannon, near Kilcullen, County Kildare) in 738 as supporters of King Áed of Leinster (p. 200). Despite their political eclipse, the Fothairt "continued to supply leading clergy to Kildare. To Ui Chúlduib ... belonged the two abbesses, Muirenn (d. 918) and Eithne (d. 1016); to the obscure Forthair Airbrech belonged the earlier abess, Sebdann (d. 732) and another Kildare ecclesiastic (d. 750); while two further abbesses, Coblaith (d. 916) and Muirenn (d. 964), belonged to an ecclesiastical branch of Forthairt Fea. And it is highly probable that many other Kildare clerics, whose origins cannot be established with certainty, belonged to Fotharta." (p. 586, NHI) Indeed, the Uí Ercáin were noted in the 'Tripartite Life' as being blessed by

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, who promised them that not only would they never be subjects of an "outside" king, but that "they

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

have their own brithemnas, capacity of judging and being judged, in their own territory. *(p. 873, NHI)

Annalistic references

All quotes from the

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 ...

, unless otherwise stated. * 284: ''After Cairbre Liffeachair had been seventeen years in the sovereignty of Ireland, he fell in the battle of Gabhra Aichle, by the hand of Semeon, son of Cearb, one of the Fotharta.'' * 663: ''Cearnach Sotal, son of Diarmaid, son of Aedh Slaine, died, together with the aforesaid persons, of a mortality which arose in Ireland, on the Calends of the August of this year, in Magh Itha, in Fotharta.'' * 733: ''Fearghus, son of Maenach, and Dubhdacrich ac h-úi Cellaigh, maic Trena two lords of Fotharta, fell at the battle of Ath Seanaith.'' * 749/54: ''The devastation of Fotharta Fea (Fothairt Fedha) by the men of Osraighe (Ossory).'' * 813: ''Ainbhcheallach, son of Daelghus, lord of Ui Fothaidh Tire, died.'' * 845/47: ''Cathal, son of Cosgrach, lord of Fotharta, was slain by the Ui Neill.'' * 849: ''Flannchadh, son of Aenghus, lord of Ui Fothadh Tire, died.'' * 854: ''Dunlang, son of Dubhduin, lord of Fotharta Tire, died.'' * 863: ''Colman, son of Dunlang, lord of Fotharta Tire, was slain by his own children.'' * 897: ''Fogartach, son of Flann, Abbot of Laithreach Briuin, and lord of Fotharta Airthir Life, died.'' * 937: ''Oillill mic Aengusa, tighearna Ua Fothaidh.'' * 966: ''Ruaidhri, mac Maol Martain, tigherna Fothart, was slain.'' * 1017: ''Muiredhach, mac Muirchertaigh, tigherna Fothart, was slain.'' * 1018: ''Ruaidhri, mac Faoláin, tigherna Fothart, was slain.'' * 1022: ''Domhnall, mac Ceallaigh, flaith Fothart, was slain.'' * 1133: ''Eochaidh Ua Nualláin, tigherna Fothart.'' * 1141: ''Creach-shluaighedh lá Toirrdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair i f-Fothartaibh Airbhreach, & ro oircc dream d'Feraibh Midhe, & d'Fhothartaibh, & regles h-Uí Dhúnáin.''

References

* ''Early Christian Ireland'', p. 14, 99, 102, 104, 116, 236, 534, 576, 674, 676, 678, 684, 685, 690, 693, 695, 705, by

Thomas Charles-Edwards Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards (born 11 November 1943) is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. He formerly held the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College. Biography He was educated at A ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, 2000. * ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', p. 45,

Francis John Byrne Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian. Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. Af ...

, 3rd edition, Dublin, 2001. * ''Early Irish Saints’ Cults and their Constituencies'', pp. 72–102, ''

Ériu In Irish mythology, Ériu (; modern ga, Éire ), daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic languages, Germani ...

' 54, T.M. Charles-Edwards, 2004. * ''Ireland, 400-800'',

, pp. 98,in ''A New History of Ireland'', volume one, 2005. * ''Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions'', Paul MacCotter, Four Courts Press, 2008.

External links

* http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/province.htm Historical Celtic peoples Gaelic-Irish nations and dynasties Tribes of ancient Ireland {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortuatha