Eochu Fíadmuine was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, joint

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

with his brother or half-brother

Conaing Bececlach Conaing Begeclach was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, joint High King of Ireland with his brother or half-brother Eochu Fíadmuine. They took power after killing the previous High King, Eochu Uairches. Conaing ruled ...

. They took power after killing the previous High King, Eochu Uairches. Eochu ruled the southern half of Ireland, Conaing the north. Their parentage is unclear. The ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...

'' reports two possibilities: that he and Conaing were the sons of Congal, son of Lugaid Cal of the Corcu Laigde of

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 ...

; or that Eochu was the son of Congal, and Conaing was the son of Dui Temrach, son of

Muiredach Bolgrach Muiredach Bolgrach, son of Siomón Brecc, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing his predecessor, and his father's killer, Dui Finn, ruled for 13 months or four years d ...

, but both had the same mother, who was also the mother of Eochu Uairches.

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating (; – ) was an Irish historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became a Catholic priest and a poet. Biography It was generally believed unt ...

makes them both sons of Dui Temrach, and the Four Masters make them the sons of Dui's son Congal Coscarach.''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

'
M4356-4361
/ref> After five years of joint rule, Eochu was killed by Eochu Uairches' son

Lugaid Lámderg Lugaid Lámderg ("red hand"), son of Eochaid Uaircheas, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. The ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' says he reigned jointly with Conaing Bececlach, ruling the southern h ...

. According to the ''Lebor Gabála'', Conaing remained in power in the north, while Lugaid took the south. The ''Annals of the Four Masters'' say Lugaid ousted Conaing and took complete control of Ireland. The ''Lebor Gabála'' synchronises the reign of Eochu and Conaing with that of

Artaxerxes I of Persia Artaxerxes I (, ; ) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I. In Greek sources he is also surnamed "Long-handed" ( ''Makrókheir''; ), allegedly because his ri ...

(465–424 BC). The chronology of Keating's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates their reign to 621–616 BC, that of the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' to 844–839 BC.

References

Legendary High Kings of Ireland {{Ireland-royal-stub