Blathewyc or Blathewic () is the name of several historical territorial divisions in what is now

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is the anglicised name of an ancient Irish ''

túath ''Túath'' (plural ''túatha'') is the Old Irish term for the basic political and jurisdictional unit of Gaelic Ireland. ''Túath'' can refer to both a geographical territory as well the people who lived in that territory. The smallest ''túath ...

'', ruled by the ''Uí Blathmaic'', later becoming a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

, bailiwick, and county in the Anglo-Norman

Earldom of Ulster The Earldom of Ulster was an Anglo-Norman lordship in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages, ruled by the Earls of Ulster and part of the Lordship of Ireland. The Norman knight John de Courcy invaded the Gaelic Irish kingdom of Ulaid ...

Uí Blathmaic

Blathewyc is an anglicisation of the Irish tribal name ''Uí Blathmaic'', which means the "descendants of Blathmac". They take their name from Blathmac, who was of the

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 ...

. Blathmac is cited as being the son of

Áed Róin mac Bécce Bairrche Aodh ( , , ; ) is a masculine Irish and Scottish Gaelic given name, which was traditionally anglicized as Hugh. The name means "fire" and was the name of a god in Irish mythology.The modern word meaning 'inflammation' or as a phrase with the I ...

, an over-king of

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 ...

who died in 735. Their territory roughly matched the later barony of Castlereagh Lower. According to historian James O'Laverty, "Their territory extended from the vicinity of Bangor to that of Carrickmannon, and included the modern civil parishes of

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) ...

, Dundonald, Comber, Killinchy, Kilmood, Tullynakill, with parts of Bangor,

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

, and Knock-breda."O'Laverty, James (1878)
"The Territory of the Ards"
''An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Conor, Ancient and Modern''. p.64

Bailiwick and county

After the invasion of Ulaid in 1177 by the Norman knight

John de Courcy Sir John de Courcy (c. 1150–1219) was an Anglo-Norman knight who lived in Ireland from 1176 until his expulsion in 1204. He conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the Benedictines and the ...

, and its subsequent conquest, the neighbouring districts of '' Aird Uladh'' and ''Uí Blathmaic'' were combined to form a county, which was styled as "Comitatus de Arde" and "Comitatus Novae Villae". This county was divided into two bailiwicks: "Balliva del Art" and "Balliva de Blathewick", with its capital at ''Nove Ville de Blathwyc'' (present-day

). In 1345,

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

, appointed Robertus de Halywode as sheriff of "Comitatus Nove Ville de Blawico".

References

Baronies of County Down Former baronies of Ireland County Down Former counties of Ireland Earldom of Ulster Ulaid {{Down-geo-stub