Irish royal families were the

dynasties 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 d ...

that once ruled large "overkingdoms" and smaller

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a 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 numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into ...

s on the island 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 ...

. Members of some of these families still own land and live in the same broad locations.

Locality

Significant kingdoms known from early historical times (2nd–7th centuries) included

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 ...

, Corcu Loígde, Connachta,

Uí Fiachrach The Uí Fiachrach () were a royal dynasty who originated in, and whose descendants later ruled, the ''coicead'' or ''fifth'' of Connacht (a western province of Ireland) at different times from the mid-first millennium onwards. They claimed descent ...

, Breifne, Aileach, Airgíalla,

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is n ...

, Ultonia, Brega,

Mide 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 ...

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 Leinster ...

Osraige Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home o ...

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

, Muma,

Iarmuman Iarmhumhain (older spellings: Iarmuman, Iarmumu or Iarluachair) was a Kingdom in the early Christian period of Ireland in west Munster. Its ruling dynasty was related to the main ruling dynasty of Munster known as the Eóganachta. Its ruling branc ...

, Desmumu, Tuadmumu, Hy Many. Some disappeared or were annexed; others were self-governing until the end of the 16th century. The Irish High Kings, seated at Tara, were sometimes recognised as supreme kings of the island from the time of Mael Seachnaill I (9th century), but the reality is that they were usually "kings with opposition", ruling maybe two or three of Ireland's provinces. In the period when the institution of high kingship existed, Ireland did not conduct much formal international diplomacy. After the Anglo-Norman invasion (1169 and forward), the native kingdoms lost status over time, though, for example, the Kingdom of

Tyrconnell Tyrconnell (), also spelled Tirconnell, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Donegal, which has sometimes been called ''County Tyrconnell''. At times it also included parts of County Fermanagh, Cou ...

maintained occasional international relations and exchanged ambassadors with the Royal Courts of Scotland, Spain, and the Papacy. As was the case with the nations in what is now England, Scotland and Wales, the more powerful of the kingdoms of Ireland all regarded themselves as fully independent entities, rather as

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

was until 1871. In several cases they claimed utterly different racial backgrounds from neighbours, Ireland being home to "races" such as the

Delbhna The Delbna or Delbhna were a Gaelic Irish tribe in Ireland, claiming kinship with the Dál gCais, through descent from Dealbhna son of Cas. Originally one large population, they had a number of branches in Connacht, Meath, and Munster in Irela ...

, Conmaicne Mara, Cruithne,

Deirgtine The Deirgtine (Deirgthine, Dergtine, Dergthine), Clanna Dergthened or "Descendants of Dego Dergthened" were the proto-historical ancestors of the historical Eóganachta dynasties of Munster. Their origins are unclear but they may have been of fai ...

Érainn The Iverni (, ') were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis (, ') in their territory, and observes that this se ...

Fir Bolg In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. They are descended from the Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. ...

, Grecraighe, Laigin,

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 i ...

Mairtine The Mairtine (Martini, Marthene, Muirtine, Maidirdine, Mhairtine) were an important people of late prehistoric Munster, Ireland who by early historical times appear to have completely vanished from the Irish political landscape. They are notable for ...

, Dáirine, and a host of others. Few claimed to be homogeneous, despite later attempts to make them so.

Surrender and regrant in the 16th century

From the 1530s

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

adopted a policy of

Surrender and regrant During the Tudor conquest of Ireland (c.1540–1603), "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English l ...

, whereby the ruling families would surrender the clan lands to the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

who would grant them titles within the English legal system. In 1555 the Irish College of Arms was set up in

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 c ...

to allow the new lords to acquire coats of arms as in the rest of Europe. This college generally accepted and copied the old genealogies. Some families successfully made the transition from kingdoms to earldoms or lordships – with the same ruling dynasty – into the 17th century and beyond, taking their seats in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

. However, the wars of 1595–1603, 1641–1650 and 1689–1691 often resulted in a loss of land if they supported the losing side. By 1700 all had long been brought fully and firmly under the dominion of English rule, though local feeling for each area as a distinct entity lasted as least as late as the Great Famine. Many went into exile for educational or professional advancement ( often in the military), while for those remaining the penal laws, especially relating to inheritance, over time meant many conformed to the Established Church and English culture to retain their land or risk losing it to family members who did. This further isolated them from their compatriots, the majority who remained Catholic.

References

* Byrne, Francis J., ''Irish Kings and High-Kings''. Four Courts Press. 2nd edition, 2001. * Curley, Walter J.P., ''Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families''. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004.

Locality

Surrender and regrant in the 16th century

See also

References

Further reading