The Iverni (, ') were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

's 2nd century ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis (, ') in their territory, and observes that this settlement has the same name as the island as a whole, Ivernia (, '). These Iverni can be identified linguistically with the Érainn (Éraind, Érnai, Érna), a people attested in

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and elsewhere in the early Middle Ages. The prehistoric Érainn royal dynasties are sometimes referred to as the

Dáirine The Dáirine (Dárine, Dáirfine, Dáirfhine, Dárfine, Dárinne, Dairinne), later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde and associated, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They ...

Etymology

The name Iverni has been derived from

Archaic Irish Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish (), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, and the ancestor of all languages within this family. This phase of the language is known only from fragments, mostly persona ...

''*Īwernī'' meaning "folk of ''*Īweriū'' " (the island of Ireland). This is in turn derived from

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical 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 Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

*''Φīwerjon-'' and further from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

*''piHwerjon-'' (the fertile land), which is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

'' píeira'' and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

''pīvara'', which refer to fertile land.

John T. Koch John Thomas Koch (born 1953) is an American academic, historian, and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory, and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' ...

claims it was probably once the name given to all the peoples of Ireland, but by Ptolemy's time had a more restricted usage applicable to the inhabitants of the south-west.

Historical septs

In early Irish genealogical tracts, the Érainn are regarded as an ethnic group, distinct from the

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 Leinste ...

and

Cruthin The Cruthin (; or ; ) were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry. They are also said to have lived in parts of Leinster and Connacht ...

. Population groups in Munster classed as Érainn include the

Corcu Loígde The Corcu Loígde (Corcu Lóegde, Corco Luigde, Corca Laoighdhe, Laidhe), meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of M ...

in southwest

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, the

Múscraige The Múscraighe (older spelling: Músgraige) were an important Érainn people of Munster, descending from Cairpre Músc, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, both of Munster, and a ...

in Counties Cork and Tipperary, the

Corcu Duibne The Corcu Duibne (Modern ), which means "seed or tribe of Duibhne" (the name of a goddess), was a notable kingdom in prehistoric and medieval County Kerry, Ireland which included the Dingle Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula and connecting land ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, and the

Corcu Baiscinn The Corcu Baiscind were an early Érainn people or kingdom of what is now southern County Clare in Munster. They descended from Cairpre Baschaín, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Múscraige and Corcu Dui ...

in west

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

. The

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...

and

Dál Fiatach Dál Fiatach was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic dynastic-grouping and the name of their territory in the north-east of Ireland, which lasted throughout the Middle Ages until their demise in the 13th century at the hands of Normans in Ireland, Normans ...

(or

Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which ...

) in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

are also considered Érainn. The Érainn appear to have been a powerful group in the proto-historic period, but in early historical times were largely reduced to politically marginal status, with the notable exception of the enigmatic

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 of ...

. The most important of the Munster Érainn, the Corcu Loígde, retained some measure of prestige even after they had become marginalised by the

Eóganachta The Eóganachta (Modern , ) were an Irish dynasty centred on Rock of Cashel, 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 De ...

in the 7th or 8th century. It is likely that the sometimes powerful

Uí Liatháin The Uí Liatháin () were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example '' The Expulsion of the Déisi'' (incidental ...

and their close kin the

Uí Fidgenti The Uí Fidgenti, Fidgeinti, Fidgheinte, Fidugeinte, Fidgente, or Fidgeinte ( or ;In the pronunciation, the -d- is silent, and the -g- becomes a glide, producing what might be anglicized ''Feeyenti'' or ''Feeyenta''. "descendants of, or of the ...

originally belonged to the Érainn/Dáirine as well, but were later counted among the Eóganachta for political reasons. Another prominent Érainn people of early Munster are believed to have been the

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 f ...

, who by the early historical period have completely vanished from the Irish landscape, although they may be in part ancestral to the later

Déisi Tuisceart The ''Déisi'' were a social class in Ireland between the ancient and early medieval period. The various peoples listed under the heading ''déis'' shared a similar status in Gaelic Ireland, and had little or no actual kinship, though they were ...

and

Dál gCais The Dalcassians ( ) are a Gaels, Gaelic Irish clan, generally accepted by contemporary scholarship as being a branch of the Déisi Muman, that became very powerful in Ireland during the 10th century. Their genealogies claimed descent from Tál ...

. The

Déisi Muman The ''Déisi'' were a social class in Ireland between the ancient and early medieval period. The various peoples listed under the heading ''déis'' shared a similar status in Gaelic Ireland, and had little or no actual kinship, though they were ...

may also have had Érainn origins, but this has long been disputed.

Dáire: Darini, Dáirine

It seems likely the Iverni were related to the

Darini The Darini (Δαρῖνοι) (manuscript variant: Darnii �άρνιοι were a people of ancient Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in south Antrim and north Down. Their name implies descent from an ancestor called ...

of eastern

. The name "Darini" implies descent from an ancestor called

Dáire Dáire is an Old Irish name which fell out of use at an early period, remaining restricted essentially to legendary and ancestral figures, usually male. It has come back into fashion since the 18th century. The anglicised form of this name is Dar ...

, (''*Dārios'') as claimed by several historical peoples identified as Érainn, including the Dál Riata and Dál Fiatach in eastern Ulster as well as the Érainn of Munster. An early name for

Dundrum, County Down Dundrum () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside Newcastle on the A2 road. The village is best known for its ruined Norman castle. It had a population of 1,555 people at th ...

, is recorded as ''Dún Droma Dáirine'', and the name

was applied to the Corcu Loígde, further suggesting a relationship between the Darini and the Iverni.

Érainn: Clanna Dedad

The genealogies trace the descent of the Érainn from two separate eponymous ancestors, Ailill Érann and

Íar mac Dedad Íar mac Dedad (Íar, son of Deda mac Sin) was a legendary King of Munster. He is the great grandfather, or in some sources more distant ancestor, of Eterscél Mór, and grandfather (or great-grandfather) of the famous Conaire Mór, both High Kings ...

. Legendary relatives of the latter include the

Cland Dedad Deda mac Sin (Deda, son of Sen) was a prehistoric king of the Érainn of Ireland, possibly of the 1st century BC. Variant forms or spellings include Ded, Dedu, Dedad, Degad, Dega, Dego, Deguth and Daig, with some of these occurring as genitives ...

(offspring of

Deda mac Sin Deda mac Sin (Deda, son of Sen) was a prehistoric king of the Érainn of Ireland, possibly of the 1st century BC. Variant forms or spellings include Ded, Dedu, Dedad, Degad, Dega, Dego, Deguth and Daig, with some of these occurring as genitives ...

), a Munster people who appear in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

, led by

Cú Roí Cú Roí mac Dáire (Cú Ruí, Cú Raoi) is a king of Munster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is usually portrayed as a warrior with superhuman abilities and a master of disguise possessed of magical powers. His name probably means "ho ...

, son of

Dáire mac Dedad Dáire mac Dedad (Dáire, son of Dega) is the eponymous ancestor of the Dáirine of Munster and father of the legendary Cú Roí mac Dáire. These further associate him with the prehistoric Darini of Ulster. He is probably identical with Dáire Do ...

, and the legendary

High King A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of emperor. Similar titles include great king and king of kings. The high kings of history usually ruled over lands of cultural unity; thus ...

Conaire Mór Conaire Mór (the great), son of Eterscél, was, according to mediaeval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland sometime during the 1st century BC or 1st century AD. His mother was Mess Búachalla, who was either the daugh ...

, grandson of Iar and ancestor of the

Síl Conairi The Síl Conairi (Sil Chonairi, Conaire) or "Seed of Conaire" were those Érainn septs of the legendary Clanna Dedad descended from the monarch Conaire Mór, son of Eterscél Mór, a descendant of Deda mac Sin, namely the Dál Riata, Múscraig ...

. The historical sept of the Uí Maicc Iair ("grandsons of the son of Iar") and the MAQI IARI of ogham inscriptions also appear to be related. The personal name ''Iar'' is simply another variant of the root present in Iverni and Érainn. Finally, the name ''Íth'', given in the genealogies as the ultimate ancestor of the Corcu Loígde (Dáirine) and offering some confusion about their parentage and relation to the Iverni, in fact preserves the same Indo-European root ''*peiH-'' ("to be fat, swell"), thus in effect completing a basic picture of the Iverni/Érainn and their kindred in later historical Ireland.

O'Rahilly's theory

Ivernic is a hypothetical language proposed by T. F. O'Rahilly. He suggested that it was an unattested

P-Celtic The Gallo-Brittonic languages, also known as the P-Celtic languages, are a proposed subdivision of the Celtic languages containing the languages of Ancient Gaul (both ''Gallia Celtica, Celtica'' and ''Belgica'') and Celtic Britain, which share ce ...

(probably Brittonic) language spoken in Ireland before

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

. He suggested this language was spoken by the Iverni, and that they invaded Ireland from Britain, bringing with them the language. O'Rahilly identifies two words recorded in the ''

Sanas Cormaic ''Sanas Cormaic'' (; or ''Sanas Chormaic'', Irish for "Cormac's narrative"), also known as ''Cormac's Glossary'', is an early Irish glossary containing etymologies and explanations of over 1,400 Irish words, many of which are difficult or outdat ...

'' as coming from Ivernic: ''ond'' ("stone") and ''fern'' ("anything good"). His theory has been refuted and is not widely accepted by experts. Furthermore, by the proto-historic period, the Iverni were evidently Goidelic-speaking, as

ogham Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language ( scholastic ...

inscriptions in

are most plentiful in southwestern Ireland, the territory of the Iverni.John T. Koch, "Ériu, Alba and Letha: When was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?", ''Emania'' 9, 1991, pp. 17–27

References

Bibliography

* * *J.-J. Tierney, ''The Greek geographic tradition and Ptolemy's evidence for Irish geography'', in RIA Proc., Ixxxvi (1976) sect.C, pp. 257–265 *Theodore William Moody, ''A New History of Ireland'', p. 140, Oxford University Press, 1976 *Nora Kershaw Chadwick, ''The Celts'', Pelican Books, 1970 *C. Thomas Cairney, ''Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland, An Ethnography of the Gael'', AD 500 – 1750, McFarland & Company Inc, Publishers *T. F. O'Rahilly, ''Irish Dialects, Past and Present'', 1932 * T. F. O'Rahilly, ''The Goidals and Their Predecessors'', London, The British Academy, 1935 * C. F. C. Hawkes, ''Pytheas: Europe and the Greek Explorers'', Oxford University Press, 1977 * John Haywood, ''Atlas historique des Celtes'', trad. Colette Stévanovitch, éditions Autrement, coll. Atlas/Mémoires, Paris, 2002, . * Byrne, Francis John, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings.'' Batsford, London, 1973 * Duffy, Seán (ed.), ''Atlas of Irish History.'' Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 2nd edn, 2000 * Nora Chadwick, ''The Celts'', Pelican Books, 1971 * C. Thomas. Cairney, ''Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland – An Ethnography of the Gael AD 500–1750'', Willow Bend Books, 1989. * Richard Bradley ''The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland'', Cambridge University Press, 2007, , * T. M. Charles-Edwards, ''Early Christian Ireland'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, , * Barry Raftery, ''Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age'', Thames and Hudson, 1998 * Lloyd Robert Laing, ''The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland, C. AD 400–1200: C. AD 400 – 1200'', Cambridge University Press, 2006 *

John Koch John Koch (August 18, 1909 — April 19, 1978), (pronounced "KŌK") was an American painter and teacher, and an important figure in 20th century Realism (arts), Realism. He is best known for his light-filled paintings of urban interiors, often f ...

, ''Common Ground and Progress on the Celtic of the south-western (s.w.) inscriptions '', Canolfan Uwchefrydiau Cymrieg a cheltaidd Prifysgol Cymru, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Iverni Prehistoric Ireland Gaelic-Irish nations and dynasties Tribes of ancient Ireland History of County Cork Medieval history of Ireland