''Dál Birn'' (''"portion" of Birn'') is a tribal epithet found in Irish sources which refers to the descendants of
Loegaire Birn Buadach, the hereditary ruling lineage of the kingdom of
Osraige
Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraà (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 ...
in Ireland.
Lineage
This illustrious lineage produced Osraige's native kings and lords- all claimed to be commonly descended on the paternal line from the second-century king
Loegaire Birn Buadach (Loegaire Birn "the Victorious"), son of
Óengus Osrithe and gave rise to a number of related individuals and later, clans which remained intact and identifiable into the modern era. Yet, the controversial scholar,
T. F. O'Rahilly, considered Loegaire Bern Buadach, the mythical ancestor Dál Birn, was the 'same personage as the Loegaire Buadach of the Ulidian tradition' and, therefore, were not Laigin. The term ''Dál Birn'' was in use long before the advent of surnames in Ireland, yet because of long-standing oral and written traditions in Ireland, it continued to be used as a mark of hereditary distinction in sources composed through the twelfth century after the common advent of surnames.
For a two-hundred year period beginning the late fifth century, the native Dál Birn kings were temporarily displaced by an allied
Corcu LoÃgde
The Corcu LoÃgde (Corcu Lóegde, Corco Luigde, Corca Laoighdhe, Laidhe), meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the SÃl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of M ...
dynasty which ruled Osraige until finally being overthrown. A number of the Corcu LoÃgde kings are recorded as being periodically slain by the native inhabitants of Osraige until the re-establishment of the Dál Birn. Dál Birn descendants remained in control of parts of Osraige, even after the
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...
, with the continuation of the
Mac Giolla Phádraig lordship in
Upper Ossory, and O'Brennan control of Idough.
Sources
The term or its equivalent is found in a number of early and high medieval Irish sources, including ''
Codex Salmanticensis'' and ''
Codex Kilkenniensis'' in the
vitae of
St. Ciarán of Saighir; the
Félire Óengusso, and in
Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 502.
Dál Birn descendants
Lineages
In addition to all the native
Ossorian kings (not counting the Corcu LoÃgde), a number of other notable family names descend from Dál Birn:
*
Mac Giolla Phádraig of Osraige, which in the mid-sixteenth century Normanized their surname to
Fitzpatrick. From these spring the Barons and Earls of
Upper Ossory,
Gowran
Gowran (; ) is a town on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is in the centre of Gowran, close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course are one kilometre from the centre of ...
, and Castletown.
* Ua Braonáin (or Ó Braonáin) of Idough, descended from Braonáin, a younger son of
Cerball mac Dúnlainge, Anglicized to
O'Brennan.
Individuals
* St.
Ciarán of Saigir
* St.
Nem of Aran
References
External links
HD image of MS Rawlinson B502, fol. 70 v. containing an Ossorian genealogyFitzpatrick - Mac Giolla Phádraig Clan SocietyFitzpatrick Clan Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dal Birn
Ancient Irish dynasties
FitzPatrick dynasty
Kings of Osraige
Irish royal families
Gaelic-Irish nations and dynasties