Eóganacht Raithlind or Uí Echach Muman are a branch of 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 ...
, the ruling dynasty 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 ...
in southwest
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
during the 5th-10th centuries. They took their name from Raithlinn or Raithleann described around the area of
Bandon, in the same area. Archaeologists believe that Garranes Ringfort in Templemartin parish, near Bandon,
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 ...
may have been Rath Raithleann, the royal seat of the Eóganacht Raithleann. They are descended from Mac Cass, the son of
Conall Corc, the first King of Cashel, through Mac Cass' son Echu.
History
In the 6th century the Uí Echach Muman split into two major groups; the Uí Láegaire and the Cenel nÁeda. The Cenel nÁeda were descended from Echu's grandson Áed Ualgarb mac Crimthainn. They gave their name to the barony of
Kinalea in southern County Cork. An important sub-sept of the Cenel nÁeda were the Cénel mBéicce, descended from Bécc mac Fergusa (died 661) who gave their name to the barony of Kinelmeaky. They later became the O Mathghamhna or
O'Mahonys.
Máel Muad mac Brain belonged to this branch.
The Cenél Láegaire were descended from Echu's grandson Lóegaire mac Crimthainn and expanded westward toward Bantry as early as the 8th century. They were later represented by Ua Donnchadha, or
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, a sept whose chiefs later settled in County Kerry. This branch are still represented among the
Gaelic nobility of Ireland
This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion. It is one of three groups of Irish nobility, the others bei ...
by the
O'Donoghue of the Glens, Prince of Glenflesk.
Members of the Raithlind branch only rarely held the throne of all Munster. According to tradition Mac Cass died before his father and so Conall Corc took his son's inheritance and instead imposed his grandson Echu in the south thereby excluding them from the inner circle of Eoganachta. The Raithlind branch was semi-independent in the south in the territory of Desmond or South Munster, though they may have been subject to the
Eóganacht Locha Léin at times during the height of their power in the late 6th and 7th centuries. In any event, following that era the O'Donoghues eventually gained the advantage in the region with Cashel also having a hand in the interim dynamics.
See also
*
Carbery
*
Iarmuman
References
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press,
* Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), ''Early Christian Ireland'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
Ireland's History in Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eoganacht Raithlind
Kings of Munster
Eóganachta