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Eóganacht Locha Léin or Uí Cairpre Luachra were a branch of the ruling
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 ...
of
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 ...
. Their territory was in
Iarmuman or West Munster. Luachair (Lúachra) is the old name of a large district on the borders of Co Cork, Kerry and Limerick. Cairbre of Sliobh Luachra was on the Cork-Kerry border; Eóganacht Locha Léin is around the Lakes of Killarney.
[, p. 1.]
The ancestor of this branch was Cairpre Luachra mac Cuirc, son of
Corc mac Luigthig (or Conall Corc mac Lugdach, the founder of Cashel) by Mungfionn daughter of Feredach, King of the
Picts
The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...
of Scotland. Cairpre Luachra was a sixth generation descendant of
Éogan Mór, ancestor of the Eoganachta. Cairpre went west over Luachair Deadhaid (Slieveloughra) to found the lands of his dynasty
Ruling septs of Eóganacht Locha Léin included Úa Cathail, Úa Flainn, Úa Muircheartaigh or
Moriarty, and Úa Cerbaill. By the 12th century the Úa Donnchadha (
O'Donoghue
Donoghue or O'Donoghue is an anglicised form of the Irish language surname Ó Donnchadha or Ó Donnchú.
Etymology
The name means "descendant of Donnchadh", a personal name composed of the elements ''donn'' "brown-haired an and ''cath'' "batt ...
s, Cenél Laegaire of Eóganacht Raithlind), leaving
Eóganacht Raithlind of Cork, had conquered and settled Éoganacht Locha Léin.
The Loch Léin branch had a free client relationship with the kings of Cashel and were often called kings of Íarlúachair or
kings of Locha Léin in the annals. The Locha Léin branch rarely provided kings of Cashel and were not part of the 'inner circle' of Eóganachta which was made up of the Eóganachta of Aurmumu. The 'inner circle' consisted of
Eóganacht Glendamnach,
Eóganacht Chaisil
Eóganacht Chaisil were a branch of the Eóganachta, the ruling dynasty of Munster between the 5th and 10th centuries. They took their name from Cashel (County Tipperary) which was the capital of the early Catholic kingdom of Munster. They were de ...
, and
Eóganacht Áine. Eóganacht Locha Léin seem to have had a tumultuous relationship with the dynasties to their east.
Several kings from Eóganacht Locha Léin are thought to have been kings of Cashel, these included:
*
Dauí Iarlaithe mac Maithni (c.500)
*
Áed Bennán mac Crimthainn, died 618
*
Máel Dúin mac Áedo, died 786
*
Ólchobar mac Cináeda, died 851 (may have belonged to Áine)
Loch Léin were prominent in the second half of the eighth century. Máel Dúin mac Áedo broke the monopolisation of the Cashel kingship by the Aurmumu septs. After this, the sept fell into decline. The
West Munster Synod, which was written in the late eighth century, or early ninth, demonstrates attempts by the
Ciarraige to check Locha Léin power. The Ciarraige were said to have killed a Locha Léin dynast in 803. In 833, the death of Cobthach son of Máel Dúin is recorded. He is only called 'king of Loch Léin' in the Annals, suggesting that the power of Locha Léin had waned. From this point, the Annals stop recording the obits of their kings.
[, p. 3.] This suggests that they had become somewhat unimportant.
Notes
See also
*
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 ...
*
Kings of Munster
The kings of Munster () ruled the Kingdom of Munster in Ireland from its establishment during the Irish Iron Age until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earli ...
References
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*O'Keeffe, ''Book of Munster''
*
External links
The tribes of Munster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eoganacht Locha Lein
Kings of Munster
Eóganachta
Gaels