The Uaithni were a people of early Ireland, who in early medieval times lived in north-eastern

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

and the adjoining part of

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

, and had traditions that they once lived west of the River Shannon. Their name derives from a reconstructed

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celti ...

''*Autēniī'', and they have been identified as the Auteini (Αύτεινοι) referred to in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

's 2nd century ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

'' as living in approximately County Galway. Two branches of the Uaithni are known: the Uaithni Cliach, corresponding to the later barony of Owney in County Limerick, and the Uaithni Tire, corresponding to the barony of Owneybeg in County Tipperary. 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 Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Flood myt ...

'' record the death of Ainle, son of Cathan, lord of the Uaithni Cliach, killed by

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

in AD 914; of Dubhdabharc, son of Maelmordha, lord of the Uaithni Tire, in 949; of Eochaidh Ua Loingsigh, lord of the Uaithni Tire, in 1080; and of Cuilen Ua Cathalan, lord of the Uaithni Cliach, in 1107. John O'Donovan (ed. & trans.), ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters'' Vol II, Hodges, Smith & Co, Dublin, 1856, pp. 588 (note 4), 589, 667, 917, 985

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uaithni Prehistoric Ireland Tribes of ancient Ireland