Irish Kings and High-Kings [2nd ed.] 1851821961, 9781851821969

Table of contents :
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xiv
Additional Notes and Corrigenda xv
A Note on the Emergence of Irish Surnames xxxi
Preface to the Second Edition xlv
Preface 1
1. The Irish Concept of Kingship 7
2. King and People 28
3. Kings and High-Kings 40
4. The Kingship of Tara 48
5. Niall of the Nine Hostages 70
6. Diarmait mac Cerbaill and the Consolidation of Uí Néill Power 87
7. Ulster Kings 106
8. Kings of Leinster 130
9. Cashel 165
10. Leth Cuinn and Leth Moga 202
11. Connacht 230
12. The High-Kingship of Ireland 254
Appendix I: King Lists 275
Appendix II: Genealogical Tables 280
Appendix III: The Pronunciation of Old Irish Names 302
Bibliographical Note 308
Index 317

Citation preview

Irish Kings and High-Kings

FOUR COURTS HISTORY CLASSICS A Paper Landscape: The Ordnance Survey in Nineteenth-century Ireland

J.H. Andrews Irish Kings and High-Kings

F.J. Byrne The Old English in Ireland, 1625-42

Aidan Clarke

,

Priests and People in Pre-Famine Ireland 1780-1845

S.J. Connolly Civil War and Restoration in the Three Stuart Kingdoms: The Career o f Randal MacDonnell, Marquis o f Antrim

Jane H. Ohlmeyer Kinsale: The Spanish Intervention in Ireland at the End o f the Elizabethan Wars

John J. Silke Jacobite Ireland, 1685-gi

J.G. Simms Songs o f Irish Rebellion

Georges Denis Zimmermann

Irish Kings and High-Kings Francis John Byrne

FOUR COURTS PRESS

Published by FOUR COURTS PRESS

7 Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland email: [email protected] http: / / www.four-cour ts-press. ie and in North America by FOUR COURTS PRESS

c/o ISBS, 920 N.E. 58th Avenue, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97213.

© Francis John Byrne 1973, 2001

First published 1973 by B.T. Batsford Ltd First paperback edition 1987 Second edition 2001; reprinted 2004

ISBN I-85182-552-5

A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

The cover design incorporates a drawing of a grave-slab from Durrow, reading OR— DO AiGiDiu, ‘A prayer for Aigide’ .

Printed in Ireland by Colour Books Ltd, Dublin.

Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Additional Notes and Corrigenda A Note on the Emergence of Irish Surnames Preface to the Second Edition Preface

vii xiv xv xxxi xlv i

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

7 28 40 48 70 87 106 130 165 202 230 254

The Irish Concept of Kingship King and People Kings and High-Kings The Kingship of Tara Niall of the Nine Hostages Diarmait mac Cerbaill and the Consolidation of Uí Néill Power Ulster Kings Kings of Leinster Cashel Leth Cuinn and Leth Moga Connacht The High-Kingship of Ireland

Appendix I: King Lists Appendix II: Genealogical Tables Appendix III: The Pronunciation of Old Irish Names

275 280 302

Bibliographical Note Index

308 317

Illustrations

PLATES APPEAR BETWEEN PAGES I 7 4 AND I 7 5

1. Figure of king or warrior from White Island, county Fermanagh. One of several statues from this site on Lough Erne. Probably ninth century. These figures have been thought to represent the seven deadly sins and this one has tentatively been identified with Pride in the person of a king or lord. Note the brooch on his left shoulder, the Viking-type sword and the small targe or shield, and compare the warrior on Plate 20. 2. Inauguration ceremony of an Irish king according to Giraldus Cambrensis, Topographia Hiberniae. This illustration comes from an early thirteenth-century manuscript original­ ly belonging to the abbey of St Augustine at Canterbury. H. F. McClintock, Old Irish dress (Dundalk, 1950), remarks: ‘Unfortunately so far as costume is concerned these pictures are far from convincing and look like the work of an artist who was drawing from hearsay or description without having ever visit­ ed the country.’ 3. Tulach Oc (Tullaghogue, county Tyrone). This sketch of the inauguration site of the O’Neills was made by Bartelet in his map of 1602 and shows the stone chair before its destruction by Lord Mountjoy. 4. Ninth-century warrior from the Book of Kells. Note again the small targe. The trousers and the spear rather than sword suggest a common soldier rather than an aristocrat.

5. Description of a king’s house in the eighth-century brehon law tract Crith v ii

Illustrations

Gablach (see text on p. 33). From the Trinity College Dublin manuscript 1337 (H.3.18): this portion was written f.15 10 by a member of the Mac Aodhagáin (Mac Egan) law school. 6. The seven ways in which a king may lose his honour. From the Heptads in the Trinity College Dublin manuscript 1316 (H .2.15A): this portion was writ­ ten by Cairbre (Mac Aodhagáin?) in 1566. 7. Knowth: Neolithic passage grave and royal site of the Síl nAedo Sláine kings of north Brega from the eighth to the tenth centuries. In 117 2 it was converted into a Norman mote. This photograph shows the site in 1968. Since then continuous excavation by Professor George Eogan has contributed enor­ mously to our knowledge of all phases of occupation from the Neolithic to the medieval. See his Knowth and the passage-tombs oflreland (London, 1986). A comprehensive report on progress to 2000 is due for publication shortly. 8. Cruciform burial chamber with stone carved bowl; third millennium BC, Knowth. 9. Early medieval ring-fort at Knowth. 10. This pagan sculpture from the Cathedral Hill at Armagh might represent the Irish ancestor-god Nuadu ‘of the silver hand’ holding his severed arm. 1 1 . Tara, looking south along the cursus towards the main complex of Ráith na Rig with the Clóenferta or sloping trenches at bottom right. For recent work on the site see Conor Newman (ed.) Tara: an archaeological survey (Dublin, 1997)· 12. 13, 14. Objects from Lagore crannogue, near Dunshaughlin, county Meath, seat of the Sil nAedo Sláine kings of south Brega from the eighth to the tenth centuries. 12. Decorated belt buckle. 13. Iron collar and chain (for hostages?). 14. Engraved bone trial-piece for artist or craftsman. 15. Celtic human sacrifice as depicted on the Gundestrup Cauldron (Copenhagen). Probably an import into Denmark from the Danube region, this famous silver cauldron of the second or first century BC appears to depict figures and motifs from Celtic mythology. The ritual procession o f warriors with shields, helmets and trumpets here shown in conjunction with what seems to be the drowning of a victim in a vat suggests the form of sacrifice reflected in several Irish tales about the deaths of early kings of Tara. More recently, however, a case has been made for regarding it as a product of Thrace and Thraco-Phrygian mythology: see Kaul, Marazov, Best and de Vries, Thracian tales on the Gundestrup Cauldron (Amsterdam, 1991). viii

Illustrations

1 6. The Cross of the Scriptures, Clonmacnoise. Erected f.900 by the highking Flann Sinna and the abbot Colmán mac Ailella. It is the first major work of art known to have been specifically commissioned by a king, although his father Máel Sechnaill appears to be commemorated by inscriptions on the high crosses at Kinnitty, county Offaly, and Killamery, county Kilkenny, prob­ ably marking the limits of his demonstration of authority over Munster in 858 (see p. 264). One panel on the Cross of the Scriptures records the association o f Flann’s ancestor Diarmait mac Cerbaill with the foundation of Clonmacnoise by St Ciarán (see p. 91) and of his own association with Abbot Colmán in the building of the great church on the site. 17. Grave-slab from Durrow, reading OR— IX) AIGIDIU. ‘A prayer for Aigide’. Aigide’s son Aed was king of Tethba and fell together with his lord the highking Congalach mac Máel Mithig at the hands of the Dublin Norse in 956. The Cenél Maine kings of Tethba claimed that their ancestor Aed mac Brénainn (*^588) granted the site of Durrow to Colum Cille. 18. Clonmacnoise from the air. 19. Pedigrees of the kings of Ulster, Dál nAraide and Ui Echach Cobo from the Oxford Bodleian manuscript Rawlinson B 502, written f.1130 . This is the earliest manuscript of the Irish genealogical corpus, and was written in Leinster, probably (in my opinion) at Killeshin, county Laois, although Professor Pádraig O Riain believes that it is the (lost?) Book of Glendalough. 20. Figure of a warrior from a slab at Carndonagh, county Donegal, in the ter­ ritory of Cenél nEógain. The Viking-type sword shows that it cannot be as early as the seventh century, as stated in the original caption, though the crossslab beside which this figure is now placed probably does. 21. Grave-slab from Clonmacnoise, reading ARTTRI. Artri mac Muirgiusa, king of Tethba, was slain in 826. 22. The Grianán of Ailech in the Inishowen peninsula, county Donegal, is an impressive stone fortress which was the original seat of the Uí Néill dynasty of Cenél nEógain and apparently occupied until the tenth century or later. 23. High Cross at Moone, county Kildare. Late eighth century. Moone (Máen Coluim Chille) was a church of the Columban community. 24. High Cross at Castledermot, county Kildare. Ninth century. Castledermot (Disert Diarmata) was a Céle Dé church founded by the Ulster prince Diarmait ua Áeda Róin (1825) in 812.

IX

Illustrations

25. Ogham stone at Burnham, county Kerry. Sixth century. R. A. S. Macalister, Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum, i (Dublin, 1945; reprinted, Dublin, 1996), No. 175. Reads MAQQI ERCCIA MAQQI M UCOl DOVIN1A, commemorating Mac Ercae mocu Duibne (i.e., of the Corco Duibne). 26. Ogham stone at Dunloe, county Kerry. Sixth century. Macalister, No. 197. Reads D EG O S MAQI MOCOI T O lC A K l, commemorating Daig mocu Tóeca (i.e., of the Tóecraige). This is one of seven which had been used later to build a souterrain. Two of these commemorate M A Q I-R IT EA S MAQI M A Q I-D D U M ILE A S MUCOl TO ICACI (Mac Reithe mac Maic Doimle mocu Thóeca) and M A Q I-T T A L MAQI VORGOS MAQI M UCOl T O IC A C (Mac Táil mac Forgo mocu Thóeca). According to the manuscript genealogies Mac Reithe and Mac Doimle were grandson and son o f Daig mac Cairpre of the Glasraige Arad, named after their matrilineal ancestor Dercu Glasfhiled, and Cairpre had extended his rule west of Luachair, which would agree with the present location of the stones. The Tóecraige were associated with the Dál Cairpre Arad of east Limerick and west Tipperary. 27. Tenth-century grave-slab from Clonmacnoise, reading ‘A prayer (oróit) for Tuathal the wright’.

OR —

DO

Ί Ί IUATH AL SAER

28. Shrine of St Laichtine’s arm from Donaghmore parish, East Muskerry. Made for the kings of Desmond f.112 0 . St Laichtine was founder of the church of Urlingford (Achad Ur), county Kilkenny, but was also linked to Belach Febrat (Ballyhoura townland, parish of Imphrick, barony of Fermoy, county Cork). The inscription mentions Cormac Mac Carthaig, 'rígdamna Muman', and his brother and predecessor Tadg ‘king of Munster’ (+1124), as well as Máel Sechnaill Ua Cellacháin, ‘high-king of the Féni’, who died in Cork in 112 1 and who is given the title ‘king of the south of Ireland’ at his obit in the Annals of Inisfallen. 29. The rock of Cashel. This acropolis, the ancient capital of Munster with its strong ecclesiastical associations, is perhaps the most picturesque of Irish monuments. The larger buildings, including the thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral, date from the later middle ages, but ‘Cormac’s Chapel’, the original Romanesque cathedral, was built by Cormac Mac Carthaig, king of Munster, in 1 134. The round tower predates this, but may not be older than 1 10 1, the date of the grant of Cashel to the church by the high-king Muirchertach Ua Briain. 30. King and abbot: ninth-century sculptures from White Island, county Fermanagh. See note to the Plate 1. x

Illustrations

3 1. Horsemen and chariot from base of cross at Ahenny, county Tipperary. Probably tenth century. Ahenny is not a recorded ecclesiastical site, but marked the border between the Déise Muman and Osraige. Perhaps the funer­ al procession here commemorates the death in battle of Cormac mac Cuilennáin, king and bishop of Cashel, who fell at the battle o f Belach Mugna in Leinster in 908, or the assassination in this area (Ui Fhothaid) of another royal cleric, Cormac mac Mothla, king of the Déise, bishop of Lismore and abbot of Kilmolash in 920. 32. Cleric on horseback from the Book of Kells. Early ninth century. The Roman tonsure (here depicted) was accepted by the Columban community of Iona in 718. But perhaps this is a caricature of the Romanised clergy: the seventh-century Iona bishop of Lindisfarne, St Aidan, notoriously refused to ride horses. 33. Stag caught in a trap from an eighth-century cross-shaft at Banagher, county Offaly. C f p. 246. 34. Romanesque doorway at Killeshin, county Laois. This elaborate doorway, made for the rebuilding of the ancient monastery of Glenn Uissen, has a frag­ mentary inscription possibly commemorating Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster. It exemplifies the new trends in ecclesiastical architecture and the royal interest in church reform in the twelfth century. 35. Inscription on an arm of the Cross of Cong, made in 112 3 to enshrine a relic of the True Cross by Máel Isu mac Brattáin Ua hEcháin for Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair ( f 1156) ‘king of Ireland’, Muiredach Ua Dubthaig, archbish­ op of Tuam ( f i 153) and Domnall mac Flannacáin Ua Dubthaig, abbot and bishop of Roscommon and Cloncmacnoise (11136 ). 36. Synchronisms of the Roman emperors, popes and high-kings of Ireland, AI) 199-432. From Laud Misc. 610 in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, written for Edmund mac Richard Butler of Cahir in 1453 and 1454, which contains many important Munster texts of the eighth century. 37. Shrine of the Stowe Missal, made í\I02Ó x 1033 by Dúnchad Ua Taccáin of the community of Clonmacnoise for Donnchad mac Briain ‘king of Ireland’ and Mac Raith Ua Donnchada ‘king of Cashel’, who died in 1052. The manuscript of the Stowe Missal was written in the early ninth century during the lifetime of Feidlimid mac Crimthainn, whose great-grandfather was abbot of Lorrha. The shrine was refurbished in the fourteenth century by Domhnall Ó Tólaire for Pilip Ó Cinnéidigh ‘king of Ormond’ (1138 1), his wife Aine and Gilla Ruadáin O Maccáin, coarb of Lorrha. xi

Illustrations

E N D -P IE C E S

All o f these grave-slabs are from Clonmacnoise, county Offaly, apart from two which are from Seirkieran and Durrow in the same county. The numbers are as in R. A. S. Macalister, Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum, ii (Dublin, 1949). p. 27: No. 674. Clonmacnoise. Tethba, was slain in 828.

OR— DO UADA.

Uadu mac Diarmata, king of

pp. 39 and 253: No. 846. Clonmacnoise. SEC IIN A SA C H . This seems to be the earliest identifiable royal inscription and is curious since the monument con­ sists of a disused quern-stone. It is thought to commemorated the king of Ui Maine, Sechnussach mac Congaile, who died in 713. p. 86: No. 714. Clonmacnoise.

OR—

IX ) t h [ a d ]G A N .

‘A prayer for Tadgán’ .

p. 105: No. 779. Clonmacnoise. o — R— IX ) C O N AIN G M— C— C O N G IIA IL: OR— T U A D G G A N . ‘A prayer for Conaing mac Congaile: A prayer for Dubcenn mac Tadgáin’. The Dubcenn commemorated on No. 779 was son of the Tadgán of No. 714 (p. 86) who flourished ^920 and was ancestor of the Muinnter Thadgáin of Tethba. The medieval learned family of O Duibhgennáin (O’Duignenan) claimed Dubcenn as their eponymous ancestor. The annals record the death of Agda son of Dubcenn ‘in the Bed of Ciarán [at Clonmacnoise] after penance and a good life’ in 980. The prayer for Conaing mac Congaile on No. 779 is a secondary inscription (probably not earlier than the twelfth century, as seems shown by the writing of lenited g as gh): it records an ancestor of Dubcenn whose death as king of Tethba is recorded in 823.

DO D UBCEN M—

pp. 129 and 274: No. 592. Durrow. See note to Plate 17. p. 164: No. 590. Seirkieran. OR— DO c h e r b a l l . ‘A prayer (oróit) for Cerball’ . The style of this cross-slab belong to the ninth or tenth century and it proba­ bly commemorates Cerball mac Dúnlainge, the well-known king of Ossory who died in 888. Although by the twelfth century Seirkieran was in the north Munster kingdom of Eile which was incorporated into the O’Brien diocese of Killaloe, the ‘pre-Patrician’ saint Ciarán of Saigir remained (together with Cainnech of Aghaboe and Kilkenny) the patron of Ossory and the parish remained attached to that diocese. p. 201: No. 643. Clonmacnoise. See note to Plate 21.

Xll

Illustrations

p. 229: No. 682. Clonmacnoise. OROlT AR MAELAN. This grave slab may com­ memorate Máelán mac Cathmoga, ‘king of the Uí Briuin [but probably Ui Fiachrach] of southern Connacht’, who was slain by Vikings in 850.

MAPS Ireland Southern Úí NéillKingdoms The North Leinster Munster Connacht and Ui Maine

xliv 89 120-1 132 i 72_3 234-5

X ll l

Acknowledgements

The author and publishers gratefully acknowledge permission from the following authors and publishers to reproduce material cited in this book: T o Joh n J . O ’M eara, for Topography o f Ireland (Dundalk, 1 9 5 1 ) , on p. 17. T o Proinsias M ac C an a for Etudes celtiquesy vii, (Paris, 19 55) on pp. 204-5. T o the pub­ lishers for A . Μ . & M . O . Anderson, AdomnarCs Life of Columba (Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd, London, 19 6 1) on pp. 96, 99. T o the M odem Language Association o f Am erica for Vernam Hull, ‘Conall Core and the Corco Lu igd e', P M L A , 62 (19 4 7 ) on pp. 1 8 4 - 5 and for V em am Hull, ‘T h e Exile of Conall Core*, P M L A , 56, (19 4 1) on p. 186. T o M rs Elizabeth Dillon for Myles Dillon, ‘T h e archaism o f the Irish tradition', Brit. Acad. Proc.y xxxiii (19 47) on pp. 2 3 -4 . T o the Officers o f the R oyal Irish Academ y for M airin O Daly, Eriu, xvi (19 52) on pp. 1 1 5 - 1 6 ; for M yles Dillon, Eriu xvi (19 5 2) on pp. 18 7 -8 and for T ad h g Ó Donnchada, Eriuy ix, (19 2 3 ) on p. 2 1 1 . T o the University o f Chicago Press for M yles Dillon, Early Irish Literature (19 48) on pp. 60, Í 3 5 -6 . T o the National University o f Ireland for Anne O ’Sullivan, Eigsey x, (Dublin, 1962) on p. 228. T o Tham es & Hudson L td and A lw yn and Brinley Rees for Celtic Heritage (London, 19 6 1) on pp. 1 0 0 -1 0 1 . T o Paul W alsh and Three Candles Ltd for material from The place-names o f Westmeath (Dublin, 19 57) on p. 14 3. T o Jam es Carney and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies for Studies in Irish literature and history (Dublin, 1955) on pp. 1 8 - 1 9 ; to Jam es Carney and the Dolmen Press Ltd for material from M edieval Irish Lyrics (Dublin, 1967) on p. 16 7 and to Jam es Carney for The poems o f Blathmac mac Con Brettan (Dublin, 1964) on p. 29. T h e publishers gratefully acknowledge the permission o f the following to reproduce photographs: I. Ulster Museum ; 2, 3 , National Library o f Ireland; 4 -6 , 3 2 , Board o f T rin ity College, D ublin; 7, 9, 1 1 , 18, Department o f Aerial Photography, Cam bridge; 8, 1 6 - 1 7 , 2 0 - 2 1 , 2 3 - 7 , 3 1 , 34 , Commissioners o f Public Works in Ireland; 1 2 - 1 4 , 28, 3 3 , 3 5 , 3 7 , National Museum o f Ireland; 15 , Danish National M useum ; 19, Bodleian L ib rary; 22 Aerofilms L td ; 29, Fógra Fáílte; 30, Northern Ireland Tourist Board; 36, University Press, Oxford.

XIV

A dditional Notes and Corrigenda

A D D IT IO N A L N O T E S

The name Brión at pp. 17, 74-5, 80, 84, 102, 232, 245-6, 248, 280, 298-9 and 320 should be spelled Brion or Brlon as in O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., i. It was disyllabic with a short final vowel. After a period of disuse it reappeared in the tenth century as the monosyllabic B rian, though the genitive *Brioin (later monosyllabic Briúin) had survived in the sept-name U í Briúin. Note the poem cited on p. 248, where Murphy prints Br'iuin in accordance with the disyllabic bréo and aue. I f we read monosyllabic B riú in we would obtain a regular pentasyllable sequence throughout, but the poem is not in syllabic metre. p. 42, second last sentence of second paragraph: add: But Liam Breatnach in Eriu> xxxvii (1986), pp. 19 13. has shown that there existed an earlier form, a close compound airdri, with genitive airdrech, and that the context (in the legal tract Córus Béscnai) implies suzerainty over all Ireland. pp. 44-5: As Binchy, ‘Irish history and Irish law’, in Studia Hibernica, xv (1975), PP· 7-36; xvi (1976), pp. 7-45, has pointed out, cobfolaid (earlier cobfolad) means ‘mutual obligations’ and J'rithJholaid (earlier J'rithJholad) ‘counterobligations’ . pp. 46-7 and 58-9 Cóiced may be a technical term referring to a ‘portion’ of a patrimony rather than to an arithmetical ‘fifth part’; thus the search for actu­ al ‘Five Fifths’ may be chimerical. p. 62: For Buchet see Kim McCone, ‘The inflection of OIr. bo “ cow” and the etymology of Buchet.’ in Ériu, xlii (1991), pp. 37-44, where he suggests that xv

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

the name means ‘rich in cattle’; however, his theory does not explain the par­ allel name Muchet, ‘swineherd’ . p. 63: John Carey in Ériu, 1(1999), pp. 165-8 has suggested the j'erp cluiche does not mean ‘stone penis’ but ‘word of contest’ . He refers to Tomás O Broin’s article ‘Lia Fáil: fact and fiction in the tradition’ in Celtica, xxi (1990), pp. 393401, which propounds the view that the Lia Fáil was not a standing stone but a flagstone which has since disappeared. Carey points out that the word here translated ‘axle’ normally means ‘wheel-rim’. Hence the phallic standing stone was not the Lia Fáil. pp. 65-6: The date 366 assigned to Cormac in the Annals o f Ulster is most probably an error for 266, the date implied in the Chronicum Scottorum. p. 66: The name Ole probably means ‘wolf’ . pp. 73-4: I do not now believe that the Three Collas were doublets of Conall, Eógan and Enda. The legend of the Three Collas may not antedate the ninth century. There is no evidence of a dynastic family descended from Enda exist­ ing in the North before the eleventh century: all earlier references associate the Cenél nEnda with the Cenél Fiachach and the Lóegaire in Mide and also in Connacht. p. 83: The Liber Angueli was composed in the seventh century, probably t.640. p. 84, second last sentence of first paragraph: for read Accordingly on the map, p. 89 the area marked < cairprk > to the south­ east of should probably be assigned within the borders of Leinster: it appears that the Uí Néill kingdom in this area did not come into existence before the twelfth century, when pressure from Ua Ruairc of Bréifne pushed Ua Ciarda of Cairpre from north-east Longford into Leinster. Similarly the reference to three kingdoms of Cairpre in the first paragraph of p. 91 is to be amended to two: one in Longford and the other in Sligo. p. 87: Ráith Airthir is most probably not Oristown, but the large triple-ram­ parted fort to the east of Donaghpatrick. See Catherine Swift, iOenach Tailten, the Blackwater Valley and the Uí Néill kings of Tara’, in Alfred R Smyth, ed., Seanchas: studies in early and medieval Irish archaeology, history and literature in honour o f Francis J . Byrne (Dublin 2000), pp. 109-20.

xvi

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 88: The Cummascach who died in 828 was most probably not son of the Sil nAedo Sláine king of Knowth, but a member of the original Ciannacht dynasty. p. 90: Colmán Bee was probably originally identical with Colmán Már, and Conall Cremthainne with Conall Gulban, the distinction between the two pairs being a reflection of eighth-century politics. Domnach Mór Pátraic is Donaghpatrick, not Donaghmore (Domnach Mór Mac Laithbe), which was a chief church of the Mugdorna Breg. p. 92, third paragraph: add sentence or footnote after . pp. 1 1 1-12 : The first Gaelic prince to bear the name Conaing was in fact a son of Aedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata. p. 1 1 5: The Mugdorna, alone of the Airgialla, escaped domination by the Cenél nEógain and remained loyal to the Sil nAedo Sláine of Brega, their for­ tunes rising and falling with those of the latter. p. 1 17: Buaigne is the name of an area, not that of a river. Aed Airdd was the last king of Dál nAraide to come from the Ui Derco Chéin. It is not certain that he was allied with Conchobar Macha: a verse cited in the Fragmentary Annals implies that they were enemies and may have killed each other. pp. 122-3: This scheme of the branches of the fine has not been accepted by the most expert scholars, though it does represent the view of a late brehon lawyer. Binchy and Charles-Edwards (the latter with important modifications) follow MacNeilPs reconstruction: the gelfliine comprised the agnatic descen­ dants of a common grandfather, and the derbjhine those of a common great­ grandfather. p. 125: The bishop Artri mac Conchobair was not son of the high-king, but a member of the Ui Chremthainn of Airgialla: he was grandson of Colcu mac Cellaig, the king of Ui Chremthainn who died in 781 after having defeated the Airthir in the previous year. XVII

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 127: I now think it most likely that Ua Mathgamna was an intruder from Airgialla, imposed on the Ulaid by the Cenél nEógain. p. 135: I do not now think that the Leinster poems (or any other text in Irish) can be much earlier than the seventh century. pp. 138-42: The Timna Cathaír M áir may be as late as the eleventh century. The very regularity of its syllable count shows that it is not really old but an exercise in archaising style. p. 141: Crích na Cétach probably did not fall into Uí Néill hands until the twelfth century, when it became the refuge of the Caille Follomain: see the remarks on Cairpre above in the note to p. 84,Osraige did not become incor­ porated into Leinster until the tenth century. The site of Carman was most probably beside Carlow town at the conflu­ ence of the rivers Burren and Barrow. p. 160, third line from end: Muiredach was not great-grandson of Finsnechta but of Finsnechta’s father Cellach. p. 169: The references to Cumméne Fota as ‘abbot of Clonfert’ here and on p. 241 should rather read ‘bishop of Clonfert’. p. 174, beginning of second paragraph: The statement about the Annals o f Inisfallen is too negative: they contain a great deal of unique information about Munster events prior to the tenth century; compared to the northern annals they are jejune, but they are much fuller than the Welsh annals for the same period. p. 176: To the list of kings mentioned in the Cain Fuithirbe should be added the name of Rechtabra, king of Ciarraige. p. 190, last paragraph: The Vita Tripartita was probably composed c.830 in the interests of Feidilmid mac Crimthainn, king of Munster, and Artri mac Conchobair, bishop of Armagh, though its present form may reflect an edition made in the tenth century. Apart from a digression dealing with the legend of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, St Ciarán and the foundation of Clonmacnoise, it does not recognise a high-king of all Ireland, but a dyarchy of Tara and Cashel, just as in the tract on Mac Arddae’s Synod cited on p. 217. p. 196: The Cenél nAngse were named after their maternal ancestor Angas: they may have been the Eóganacht Aine, but an obscure verse in the Vita Tripartita suggests that they were the Eóganacht Locha Léin.

XVlll

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

pp. 1 99-201: I think that the tract De bunad imthechta Eóganachla probably dates back to the eighth century. p. 207, last paragraph: for read with footnote:

p. 208, last'paragraph: Professor Pádraig O Riain has shown in his edition of the Old Irish saga Cath Almaine (Dublin, 1978), pp. xii-xiii that the events of 733 did not involve Cathal mac Finguine but Cathal mac Aeda of the Sil nAedo Sláine and were part of the ongoing struggle between that dynasty and the rising Clann Cholmáin. pp. 214 and 219: Olchobar mac Cináeda has been almost certainly misidentified as of the Eóganacht Locha Léin: he was most probably of the Eóganacht Aine (see Corrigenda). pp. 214 and 227: The theory propounded in the Leabhar Muimhneach that the Ui Thairdelbaig did not enjoy the kingship of Dál Cais in the early centuries is not supported by any contemporary evidence. p. 222, line 6: There were only two Munster abbots of Clonmacnoise, both from the Corco Loígde: Crónán mocu Loigde (628-38) and Luccreth or Lucraid (740-53)· pp. 222-3: Forindán was abbot of Armagh and Diarmait bishop: the ninth and tenth centuries witnessed an intermittent struggle between abbot and bishop to claim the title of coarb of Patrick. p. 227, second paragraph: This text is in verse. The reference to Daire Eidnech is significant in that this is the place later known as Daire na Flann (Derrynavlan), where the magnificent ninth-century altar service, including a chalice inferior only to the Ardagh chalice of a century earlier, a large paten and a spoon, were discovered in the early 1980s. It is tempting to associate this treasure with Feidlimid mac Crimthainn. The saints named Flann after whom Daire na Flann was named were Feidlimid’s ally Flann mac Fairchellaig, abbot of Lismore and later also of Emly and Cork (+825), Flann mac Duib Chonna (or mac Duib Thuinne) and Flannán mac Tairdelbaig of Killaloe, royal saint of the Dal Cais. The site is described in detail in a remarkable passage in the ninth-century Latin Life of St Ruadán of Lorrha. Feidlimid’s great-grandfa­ ther was abbot of Lorrha.

xix

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 229: Feidlimid mac Crimthainn is also celebrated in the much earlier Martyrology o f Tallaght. p. 243, second paragraph: Guaire’s alleged son and grandson Airmedach and Ecomras mac Congaile in fact were not of his line but of the Airgialla. p. 249: Dub Dothra (+743) was, as the Four Masters say, and as his epithet ‘of the Dodder’ indicates, king of the Uí Briúin Cualann of south county Dublin and not of the Connachta: his adoption as ancestor by the Ua Ruairc genealo­ gists is a fabrication. p. 255: Muirchú may not have been writing primarily in favour of Armagh, whose position was already secure. His loyalties were to Saul and Down and to the Ulaid, and he did not hold kings in high esteem. I do not now believe that his account of Lóeguire and Tara was meant to flatter the Uí Néill. The sentence describing Lóeguire as imperator and Tara as caput Scottorum has almost certainly been taken from an earlier hymn or metrical Life of Patrick, which seems also to be cited by Tírechán. p. 263, second paragraph: Suairlech may not have become abbot (or rather bishop) of Clonard until the death of the bishop and anchorite Comsud in 858. p. 278 and p. [292] Table 12: Note that the identity of is doubtful: he is not mentioned in the annals except at the notice of his accession in A FM 920 [=922] and might actually have been identical with Lorcán mac Lachtna, father and predecessor of Cennétig mac Lorcáin (+951 ) according to An Leabhar Muimhneach, p. 323, which makes him suc­ ceed Rechtabra mac Mothla, abbot of Tomgraney (+934) as king of Dál Cais. p. 287, Table 7: For an alternative descent of 1 1 . C ongal C láen from Scandal (VIII a) 1646 and a discussion of the implications see Thomas CharlesEdwards and Fergus Kelly, Bechbretha (Dublin, 1983), pp. 123-6. p. 288 Table 8: The Ui Garrchon are also given a descent even more remote from the main dynastic line, tracing them to Coirpre Nia Fer, brother of the Find Fili who was allegedly great-grandfather of Cú Chorb. See CharlesEdwards, Early Irish and Welsh kinship, pp. 120-2; but the statement on p. 121 (with footnote 89) that a member of the Ui Garrchon is commemorated by an ogham inscription in Brega is mistaken: this is that referred to on p. 137 of the present work and belongs to Mac Cairthinn of the Ui Enechglais.

xx

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

C O R R IG E N D A

p. 15, first line o f Greek: for φρένεο read φρένεο p. 26: close parenthesis after Instructio principis p. 39, second paragraph: for read p. 4 1, line 6: for rut ri read ruiri p. 44, line seven: for δώρα α νομίζεται read δώρα α νομιζεται p. 45, line two: for read p. 57, line six: for < ii7 2 ~ 3> read < ii 7 i - 2 > (this correction is in the 1987 paperback reprint) p. 59, last line of first paragraph: for read p. 97: for read p. 136: for < St Fintan or Munnu of Taghmon> read < St Fintan of Clonenagh> p.

1 3 7 : for read

p. 171: for read and similarly on p. 217 p. 174: for read

p. 180: for read p. 188, 9th line from end: for read p. 196: for read p. 203: for read p. 216: for read and read

xxi

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

for in all the subsequent occurrences in this para­ graph. p. 217: for the passage read The next paragraph should now read:

Furudrán is no doubt to be identified with Aed Find (Fururán or Foirinn), brother of the kings of Iarmumu, Aed Bennán (16 19 /6 2 1) and Aed Damán (+633), who features in the Life of Mac Creiche. See Seán O Coileáin, ‘The saint and the king’ in de Brún, O Coileáin and O Riain, Folia Gadelica (Cork, 1983) 36-46. The text is not corrupt: Crimthann’s mother was probably of the Arai or Arada Cliach and her name means ‘female descendant of Macnia’, derco being the feminine of the archaic gentilic formula moccu. p. 222: for read . And for read p. 239, footnote f : for read

XXII

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 242: for read Also at the entry in the Index, p. 321. p. 255: for read and for read . p. 275, last line: for read p. 276: for^XXVl Fergal mac Máele Dúin (ob. ηη2)> read and for < x x ix Flaithbertach mac Loingsig (ob. 734)> read and for < X X X II Niall Frossach mac Fergaile (ob. ηηο)> read < xxxil Niall Frossach mac Fergaile (abd. 770; ob. 778)> (these corrections are in the 1987 paperback reprint). p. 278: for < 17 Eterscél mac Máele Umai (ob. 721) [A]> read and for < 2 ia Tuathal mac Artroig [G] [and] 22 Tnúthgal mac Donngaile [C]> read with footnote: *Tnúthgal mac Artrach is not mentioned in the annals, but if Artri had been ‘ordained’ on the model of Offa of Mercia, then he may have had his son ‘ordained’ as his successor as Offa did Ecgferth, and Tnuthgal may have died

i.807. Artri must have been at least 78 at the time of his own death in 821, since his father Cathal mac Finguine had died in 742. ‘Tnuthgal mac Donngaile’ or ‘mac Donngusa’ here and at p. 292, Table 12, is a phantom derived from the list in An Leabhar Muitnhneach, p. 404 (‘Tnuthgal mac Donngaile m. Donngusa m. Fáelgusa’ — BB with variants in EN) and the obit 820 assigned to him in NHI ix, Table 10 has no foundation in the annals (it was based on the accession of Fedlimid in that year). Tnuthgal mac Donngusa m. Donngaile is given as the grandfather of Máel Gualai in R 150b 27 = O’Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., i, p. 217. The alter­ native pedigrees of the latter Tnuthgal and of his brother Crundmáel as sons of Fogartach mac Failbe Flaind given ibid., pp. 217, 218 (R 150b 37) are obvi­ ously wrong. And for read p. 279: for read

XXlll

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 284 Table 5: add to footnote

*s almost

p. 289 Table 9: (son of Fáelán) was not grandson of but of Finsnechta’s father < 19 . C ellach t 776>. With reference to (son of < 2 1. B ran Ardchenn t 795> ) add ; his name should therefore appear in bold face. Add footnote p. 290 Table 10: Add as son o f Domnall Remar (this correction is in the 1987 paperback reprint). Replace here the date with < fio o 6 > for Donnchad Máel na mBó and add the date to his father Diarmait. p. [292] Table 12: to son of Sechnussach and father of Dub-dáCrich add p. [293] Table 13: Here it seems best to quote in full O Corrain’s important remarks in Celtica, xiii (1980), p. 164: The disarray of the Eoganacht in the ninth and tenth centuries was such that some of their kings were little more than nonentities. The provenance of Olchobar mac Cináeda, king of Munster and abbot of Emly ^ 8 5 1), is something of a problem. As far as I can gather the king-lists and the Eoganacht Locha Léin genealogies are silent about his origins. The received descent is arrived at by tacking him onto Cináed (m. Aeda m. Congaile) who probably flourished towards the end of the eighth century (Corp. Gen. 389 = L L 327b6). However, another derivation of Uí Chináeda in the same text is at variance with this. His descent, as given by Professor Byrne (p. 295), is incorrect and I suspect that he has been misled by an erroneous note of Mac Airt (Ann. Inisf, p. 113). The slip arises from a con­ fusion between Máel Dúin (m. Aeda m. Conaic) who died in 786 and Máel Dúin (m. Aeda Bennáin) who died in 661. The correct descent of Cináed according to the genealogical tracts, is Cináed m. Aeda m. Congaile m. Maíle Dúin (f66i). However, in the unedited genealogies o f the Eoganacht Aine (Lee. 2i4 R ai5 = BB I78d2i) it is claimed that Olchobar belonged to that group. The text is of Emly provenance since it preserves the descent xxiv

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

of Colum, abbot of Emly (fioo2) and of his family, Uí Laigenáin of Eoganacht Aine. -There is a further difficulty, also connected with Emly and this text, which involves Cend Faelad ua Mugthigirn, king of Munster and abbot of Emly (+872). His pedigree, says Professor Byrne who attach­ es him to the Eoganacht Airthir Chliach ‘is evidently faulty and in fact the genealogy of his dynasty peters out in the early eighth century’ (p. 178). The name Mugthigern certainly occurs in the Eoganacht Airthir Chliach genealogies but that of Cend Fáelad does not. On the other hand, the kinglist in the Laud synchronisms (almost certainly of Emly provenance) says that he belonged to Ui Enna Aine (i.e., Eoganacht Aine). He was, after all, abbot of Emly as were his uncle, Rechtabra (+819) and his son, Eogan (1890). The chances are that he belonged to Eoganacht Aine rather than to Eoganacht Airthir Chliach whose genealogies cease to be recorded by about the end of the seventh century and who are effectively absent from the annals. And now for a long shot. I f the genealogy of Flann mac Mugthigirn of Eoganacht Airthir Chliach is misplaced and correctly belongs to Eoganacht Aine where it is to be attached to the line of Garbán (? reading Conall for Cormac) and i f Mugthigirn mac Cellaig, sapiens of Inis Celtra (+785) is to be identified with Mugthigirn father of Rechtabra (Ί'819), then Cenn Fáelad ua Mugthgirn and his relatives fit comfortably into the Eoganacht Aine genealogies. These details are of some signifi­ cance since I believe that we have seriously underestimated the role of Emly in the ninth-century kingship of Munster. O Corráin is referring to R 150a 9: Flann m. Mugthigirn m. Cellaich m. Crunnmail m. Cormaic and L L 327c 30: Cend Faelad m. Tuathail m. Tipraite m. Eoganain m. Crundmail m. Conaill m. Garbain m. Ennae. So perhaps we can reconstruct genealogy as follows: {I took the pedigree as given in IK H K Table 13: Cenn Fáelad mac Murchada m. Mugthigirn from the Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, p. 2 (which also gives Máel Gualae’s patronymic as ‘mac Dimgalaig” — not in L L version) — the annals all say Cenn Fáelad hua Mugthigirn and the other regnal lists all say Cenn Fáelad mac Mugthigirn.}

xxv

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

XXVI

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 294 Table 14: Delete footnote marked with asterisk* and add < t958> to father of p. 295 Table 15: for read and to add footnote < * It is more likely that he belonged to the Eóganacht Aine o f Table 13.>

XXVII

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

* The Life o f Mac Creiche gives Cumméne another son Máel Anfaid, who is counted as king while Conaing (Conacc) is not. See Seán O Coileáin, ‘The saint and the king’, in de Brún, Ó Coileáin and Ó Riain, Folia Gadelica (Cork, 1983) pp· 36-46. § None of the M SS used in C G H give Ólchobar a father Cináed: they have the pedigree of an Ólchobar mac Congaile m. Máele Dúin, but do not identify him as either king or abbot! The pedigree of Ólchobar is evidently too short, thus supporting O Corráin’s suggestion that he belonged to the Eóganacht Aine. p. 296 Table 16: for read . Add footnote: < * It unlikely that he was ever king: his inclusion in some sources may be due to confusion with Olchobar mac Duib Indrecht +805.> p. 297 Table 17: should be . p. 298 Table 18: for < 13 . Laidgnén (Loingsech) fÓ55> read < 13 . Laidgnén (Loingsech) |050> and for < 16 . D únchad M u irisci> read < 16 . D únchad M uirisci f683> while and his father and uncle do not belong here and should be deleted (they were of the Airgialla). p. 299 Table 19: add footnote p. 304, footnote 1: for read

XXVlll

Additional Notes and Corrigenda

p. 322 Index: under Cellachán Caisil: for < I78 > read ng- and the prefixing o f n- to initial vowels. T h e following common elements in place and population names (being neuter nouns) cause eclipsis o f the following in itial: Cenél ‘race’ , D dl ‘division; assem bly; territory’ , Loch ‘lake; fjo rd ; estuary’ , Mag ‘plain’ , S il ‘seed; descendants’ , T ir ‘land’ ; while the following (being either fem inine singular or masculine plural) cause lenition: Clann ‘children; descendants’ , Corco ‘seed’ , Ui ‘grandsons; descendants’ . These and other words such as mac ‘son’ and ua (archaic aue) ‘grandson’ are o f course followed b y the genitive, and differences between older and later inflections account for some inconsistencies in the text: thus Áed (archaic A id ) had the genitive Aedo (Aido), later Aeda (M odern Irish Aodh, genitive Aodha) . It has not been possible to achieve complete uniform ity in the spelling o f proper names, but a norm has been aimed at for those referring to the O ld Irish period and a classical norm adopted for M odern Irish names after c. 1200. Those readers fam iliar with Irish or Scottish G aelic m ay well prefer to pronounce in the modern fashion, and occasionally I have indicated this in the trans­ cription where it is simpler or where a name is still in common use. In the transcription long vowels are marked with the macron [a] [e] etc., and palatal consonants are italicised. The following symbols used need explanation: [ch] as in Scots loch; palatal [ch] as in Germ an ich. [dh] as English th in there. [gh] as Spanish g in rog6\ it is a guttural spirant, the voiced equival­ ent o f [ch], representing nonpalatal lenited g. [th] as English th in think. [y] when representing palatal lenited g is a strongly consonantal English j . * * T h e two pronunciations of lenited g have their equivalents in the Modern Greek pronunciation o f y before palatal and non-palatal vowels.

3°3

Appendix I I I

In M odern Irish dh has fallen together with gh and th is sim ply [h ]. Often dh and gh (and occasionally bh and mh) are silent or have become vocalised so as to form a diphthong with the preceding vowel. Further­ more an intrusive vowel often appears between old consonant clusters. Thus the names Donnchad and Murchad [donchadh] [m urchadh] are now [donacha] [m uracha], and the surnames derived from them, Ó Donnchadha and Ó Murchadha are pronounced [δ donachu] [δ m urachú] (anglicised as O ’ Donoghue and M urphy, the latter pre­ serving a variant o f the spirant pronunciation o f -d-).* In early Irish all words had a strong stress accent on the first syllable. Vow els are not lengthened by stress, thus Cú Chulainn has a long [u] in the first (pretonic) element, but a short stressed [u] in the second [ku chuliw]. Lon g vowels are m arked with the acute accent: á> é, i, ό, ú. In the southern dialects o f M odern Irish a long vowel in a later syllable m ay attract the stress. A n approxim ately correct pronunciation w ill be achieved by giving all vowels, short and long, their ‘continental* values. Thus in the transcription the diphthongs [ai] and [au] represent English ai in aisle and ou in house. Short e followed b y a non-palatal consonant has become ea in M odern Irish and is pronounced as English a in hat: so O ld Irish ben side is M odern Irish bean sidhe ‘ banshee*. T he O ld Irish diphthongs de, ai were pronounced as [ai] and 6e, oi as [o i]; but they fell together in M iddle Irish, and in M odern Irish are written ao (aoi before palatal consonants), and variously pronounced in the dialects: [e] m ay be taken as a norm, with p] before palatals. T he diphthong au early became sim ply ú. T h e m ain stress in the diph­ thongs ta and ua falls on the first element, but in the case o f ui on the í. Éo was originally stressed on the first element, but the spelling eó is here adopted (pronounced as [δ] with palatalisation ofaprecedin g consonant.) These diphthongs are to be distinguished from the digraphs ái, éi> ói, ύι, which m erely represent the long vowel followed by a palatal con­ sonant (with an evanescent glide-vow el). So too ai, ei, oi and ui are short vowels coloured by a following p a latal.f In O ld Irish final -ae and -ai indicate that the short palatal vowel is preceded by a nonpalatal * By modern scholarly convention patronymics are distinguished from surnames by the capitalisation of mac and ua (later Ó) in the latter. Thus Tairrdelbach U a Briain was in fact the grandson of Brian Bóruma, but his son Muirchertach U a Briain was the first to bear the surname O ’Brien. t It is nevertheless possible that ai at least was a short diphthong. In the trans­ cription the slight distinction in pronunciation between short a and ai (similar to that between German Mann and English man) has not been indicated.

304

Appendix I I I

consonant: by the M iddle Irish period these inflections had died out, so that nom inative Fiachnae, genitive Fiachnai fell together as Fiachna. T he sound [h] existed in Old Irish in certain gram m atical contexts when it might be prefixed to an initial vowel (thus ua hAedo ‘grandson o f Á ed’— cf. M odern Irish Ó hAodha, H ayes), but in writing it was more often than not a mere orthographical ornam ent: so ua, Ui are often written with a meaningless initial h-.

Transcription of selected Irish names and words Adom nán [a-dhov-nan] Áed [aidh; édh; é] A irgialla [ar-yiala] attire [a-i/i-re] Báetán [bai-dán; bé-dán] bóruma [bó-ru-w a; bó-ru] Brigit \bri-y'\d\ brld] C athal [ka-thal; ka-hal] Cenél Gonaill \kz-nt 1 go-ni/] Cenél nEógain [A:e-«e1 wó-ghiw] C erball [£er-val; A:a-rul] C iarán mac int saír [&ía-rán mak in tir] C iarraige [£ia-ra-ye; Aáa-ri] Cóemgen [koiz/-ye;z; ki-ζ/ΐτί] cóiced, cúigeadh [kó-gedh; kui-ge] Coirpre, Gairpre [kor-bre; kar-i-£re] comarba [kó-war-ba] Conchobar [kon-cho-var; kon-a-chúr; kro-chur] Gorcu Baiscind [kor-ku vash-kin] Corcu Duibne [kor-ku dhuz/-/ze; kor-ka ghi-ni] Dál Cais [dál gash] Dál Fiatach [dál z/ia-tach] D ál R ia ta [dál ria-da] derbfliine [dtr-vi-m] D iarm ait \dlar-rmd] dindshenchas [ 1 7 7 » 19 7 -8 , 218 η .

R ig, R igsth u la, 104 Rinn Seimne (Island M agee), n o Robert fitzStephen, 274 Roger of Howden, 57 Rome, 76, 15 9 ; Roman Empire, 9 - 1 2 , 54, 76-8 0 , 8 3, 13 5 , 259, 262, see also Britain; mythology and religion, 52, 5 5 -6 , 59, 68, 15 5 , 19 4 ; Romanisers, 34, 16 9 -70 Romulus, 68 Rónán, abbot of Clonmacnoise, 222 Rónán mac Colmáin, of U i Cheinnselaig, * 3 7 » 290 Rónán mac Colmáin, o f U í Dúnlainge, 13 7 , 289 Rónán M ór, 16 7 -8 Roscommon, R o s Com m din, 242, 2 5 1 - 2 Roscrea, 170 Ross, diocese, 165, 18 0; Ross Carbery, 191 Rossinvcr, 22 Ruadán (mac Óengusso), St, of Lorrha, 3 4 » 5 3 »9 5 »9 7 » !9 2 , 211 Ruadri mac Fáeláin, 158, 16 0 -6 1, 289 R uarc mac Brain, 163, 289 ru iri, gen. ruirech ‘over-king’ , 4 1, 210 Ruithchern, 206 Rus Failge, Ros Failgech mac Cathaír M áir, 139 , 14 1 , 288

337

Index Sadb daughter of Conn, 202 Saigir (Seirkieran), 72, 1 7 0 - 7 1 , 180 Saint-Denis, 159 S t M ichael’s M ount, 77η. St Mullins, T ec h M o - L i n g , 13 2 , 14 4 , 158 Saitne, 69, 88, 1 0 in. S a lta ir na rann, 201 S am a in , Sam h a in , 2 3 , 5 5 , 7 5 , 98, 101 sanas ‘ council, counsel’ , 197 Sárnat daughter o f Eochu, 15 4 Saul, S a b a ll P á tra ic , 50, 82 Saxo Grammaticus, 18 5 Saxons, S a x a in , 29, 7 6 - 7 ; (English), 259, 2 7 2 ; Old Saxons, A lls a x a in , 10, 76 Scandinavia, 12 , 30, 10 3 -4 Scandlán mac Flainn, 2 1 3 , 296 Scéla M u c c e M a t e D d T h ó , 49 Schottenkldster , 19 1 Sciath Nechtain, battle of, 262 Scotland, 69, 96, 1 3 3 - 4 , *935 A lb a , 7 6 -7 , 26 0; D ál R iata, 9 - 1 0 , 63, 77, 10 8 -10 , 1 1 2 , 2 5 5 , 26 0; Gaelic, 8, 10 ; Piets, 8, 39, 77, 13 2 , 18 5 , 194, 26 0; Scots, 77, 25 9 -6 0 Scotti (Irish), 9, 48, 65, 7 6 -θ , 184, 2 2 5 -6 , 2 5 5 , 2 5 7 » 259, 262 Scotia (Ireland), 5 3 , 96, 18 3, 2 5 5 Scythia, 10, 199 Sechnassach mac Fingin, 205 secnap, secundus abb as , 38 , 149, 2 1 4 , 2 2 2 ; secnopóite, 222 secundarius , 38 Sedulius Scottus, 2 6 2 ; D e rectoribus christianis, 26 Segom o , 182 selaidecht ‘alternate succession’ , 180 Senchán Torpéist, 2 4 3 - 4 senchas ‘ lore, tradition, history’ , 1 3 ; Senchas M d r , 34 , 17 4 ; senchaid ‘historian’ , 14 Septimius Severus, 49 Sequ an i , 3 9 » 4^ Serglige Con C u la in n , 62 Sescenn Uarbeóil, 22 sét , pi. séta ‘ chattel, valuable’ , 199 Sétantae, Setan tii , 50 Sétnae, father o f Mes-Delmonn, 13 4 Shannon, S in ann , gen. S in n a , river, 13 2 -4 , 15 7 , 18 1 , 2 2 1 - 2 , 2 4 1 - 2 ; boundary of Connacht, 5 1 , 84, 9 1 - 2 , 2 3 0 -3 , 2 3 6 -7 , 246, 2 5 3 ; o f Southern U í Néill, 9 4 ; strategic importance, 1 6 9 - 7 1 , 26 3, 266 s id , gen. side, pi. side O therw orld dwelling’ , 9, 19 -2 0 , 6 2 -3 , 1 15 , 166 Sidney, Sir Henry, 18, 36 Sigurd the Stout, earl of Orkney, 163 Sigurd Magnusson, 267 Sil nÁedo Sláine, 6on., 8 7 -8 , 90, 9 3 - 4 , 98η.,

104, 1 18, 15 4 , 26 3, 268, 281 mBrain, 13 2 Cathail, 248, 2 5 0 - 5 1 , 300 Cellaig, 248, 2 5 1 nÉladaig, 148, 290 M áeluidir, 14 7 , 149, 15 7 , 290 M uiredaig, ‘ Shilm orthy’ , 2 4 8 -5 3 , 300 S ilv a V ocluti , 78 Simon M agus, 17 7 Sin, 1 0 1 - 2 S ir G aw ayn e an d the Green K n ig h t, 49 Sitric (Sigtryggr) Silkbeard, king of Dublin, Sil Sil Sil Sil Sil Sil

15 1 Skye, 10 5, 109, 243 Slane, 65, 87, 90, 93, 13 7 , 2 2 1 Slaney, river, 130 Slébéne, king o f Corco Duibne, 176 Slemish, S lia b M i s , 78 Sliab Aideda ind R ig, 75 Sliab m Bladma (Slieve Bloom), 93, 13 3 , 169 Sliab Fuait (the Fews), 14 , 11 9 , 265 Sliab Luachra, 17 7 , 193 Slicech (Sligo), battle of, 10 2, 244 Slievenamon, S i d ol Fem u n , S lia b na m Bati F in n , 166 Slige D ála, 16 9 -7 0 sloinned, pi. sloinnti ‘kindred, surname’ , 249 Snorri Sturlason, 10 3 -4 soer, sder ‘ free, noble’ , 1 7 5 ; sóer-chéle, 28, 19 7 ; sóer-nemed, 1 7 5 ; sáer-thuatha, 4 5, 22 7 , 246 Sogain, 230, 2 3 6 -7 , 2 5 1 Solomon, 65 Somerset, 272 Song o f Derm ot an d the earl , 7, 4 7, 27 4 Spain, i i , 199-20 0 Spenser, Edm und, 3 8 -9 Sperrin mountains, 1 1 5 sruith ‘senior’ , 228 Sruthair (Shrule), 250 Sruth Cluana Argai (Cloonargid), 25 1 Stewarts, family, 194 Stokes, W hitley, 18 3 Stilicho, 76 Stone of Scone, 27 Stonehenge, 64 Stowe Missal, 12 Strabo, 27 Strangford Lough, Lo ch C u an , 161 Strathclyde, 1 1 2 Strongbow, 2 7 3 Suairlech, abbot of Clonard, 263, 265 Suck, Succa, river, 92, 2 3 6 -7 , 252 Suibne, abbot of A rm agh, 1 1 8 Suibne, abbot o f Iona, 258 Suibne Geilt (‘W ild Sweeney’ ), 1 1 3 Suibne m ac Colm áin, 97, 282

338

Index Suibne rnac Fiachnai, 12 3 Suibne M cnn mac Fiachnai, 1 1 2 , 27 5 , 27 7 , 28 3

thing,

Tabernacles, feast of, 61 T a d c mac Céin, 6 8 -9 , io in . T a d c mac Diarmata, 149 T a d g mac Muirgiussa, 2 5 1 , 300 Taghm on, T ech M u n n u , 136 , 149 Tailtiu (Teltown), 3 1 , 58, 90, 96, 1 1 5 , 208, 2 5 3 ; see also Óenach Tailten tain bó ‘cattle raid’ , 4 6 ; T d in Β ό C u ailgn e, 14, 19, 3 2 ,4 8 , 5 1 , 59, 72, 106, 1 3 3 , 2 3 1 , 2 4 4 - 5 ; Τ ά ιη B o F ro ic h , 18 Talam nach (Tolomnach) mac Laidcind, 241 Tallaght, T am lach t M d e ln u iin , 34 , 15 7 , 161 — 2, 2 2 3 , 2 2 6 -7 Idnaise, tdnaise rig ‘ tanist, heir-designate’ , 3 7 9, 149, 18 0 ; tdnaise abb ‘ vice-abbot, prior’ ,

38 T a ra , T e m a ir B r e g , gen. T em ro, 4 8 -6 9 passim , 78, 8 8 ; ‘ bull-feast’ (la irb fh e is ), 60, 6 2 ; cursing and desertion of T a ra , 34 , 49, 5 3 , 9 5 -7 , 192, 2 1 1 ; Connachta, 5 1 , 6 2 , 68, 7 1 , 7 5 ,8 0 - 6 , 200, 2 3 1 - 2 ; Feast of (F e is T em ro ), 17 . 57» 6 1, 65, 80, 8 5, 95, 9 8 ; high-kingship, 9, 14, 4 1 , 4 3, 4 7 , 5 2 -4 , 5 7 - 8 , 6 3 -6 , 7 1 , 86, 94, 164, 166, 168, 1 7 1 , 2 0 1, 2 1 7 , 220, 247, 2 5 4 —6, 2 6 0 -6 1, 266, 2 6 9 - 7 1 ; kings of T ara, 24, 3 1 , 77, 80, 10 2, 159, 198, 208, 2 10 , 2 2 1 , 2 2 3 -4 , 24°» 244. 2 4 6 7, 256, 258 , 2 7 6 - 7 ; Laigin, 58, 63, 13 9 -4 2 , 14 4 - 5 , *48, 1 5 1 ; sacral kingship, 23 , 5 1 , 5 4 -6 5 , 72, 7 5, 86, 10 3 -4 , I i r > 2 5 5 ; sentun tha T em ra , 10 2 ; site, 27, 54, 5 6 -7 , 6 4 -5 , 67, 8 7 ; synods at, 54 , 15 8 ; U i Neill, 4 6 -7 , 5 0 -5 53» 5 7 - 8 , 6 5 -9 , 7 1 - 5 , 8 0 -6 , 9 0 -2, 94, 104, 162, 180, 18 5, 194, 204, 247, 260, 26 4 -6 , 2 6 5 ; Ulaid, 38 , 68, 1 1 2 - 1 4 , 200; ‘ vassal-peoples’ , see Déisi Tem ro Tarsus, 44 Tech Duinn (Dursey Island), 166, 192 Tech Máelchonóc, 22 3 Tech M idchuarta, ‘ Banqueting H all’ , 56, 62, 6 4 -5 tecosca ‘ instructions’ , 26, 62, 65 T eist C a th ail meic F in g u in e , 2 10 Telach Garraisc, battle of, 1 1 7 Tem air Eimin, 187 termonn (term inus), ‘ termynlands’ , 34, 8 3, 162, 2 2 1 , 226 Terryglass, T lr -d d -G la s s , 134 , 140, 170 , 2 0 9 10, 226, 242 Tethbae, 2 3 , 8 7 , 9 1 - 2 , 95, 2 3 3 , 236, 280 Tewdws ap Rhein, 183 Theodosius, 72

30

Thomund, Tuadm um u, 166, 197, 2 1 0 ; Dál Cais, 180, 2 18 , 22 7, 2 4 2 -3 , 266; O ’Brien kingdom, 47, 70, 165, 270, 29 7 ; won from Connacht, 76, 169, 180, 22 7, 239, 241 Thrace, 64, 78 Thrall, 104 Three frag m en ts o f annals, 264 tigerna, tighearna ‘ lord’ , 4 1, 128 Tigernaeh mac Acdo, 196, 294 Tigernach mac Fócartai, 262 Tipraite mac Taidg, 250, 300 T ir nAilello (Tirerrill), 8 4 -5 , 25 3, 298 T ir nAmalgado (Tirawley), 78, 2 3 2 -3 , 238, 298 T ir Conaill (Tyrconnell), 15, 17 18, 57, 85. 10 3, 128, 258 Tírechán, 50, 65, 7 8 ,8 0 ,8 2 ,9 0 , 1 5 1 , 189-90, 2 4 5 ; Breviariu m , 2 3 2 -3 T ir nEógain, T ir Eóghain (Tyrone), 114 , 128, 256 T ir Fhiachrach (Tireragh), 2 1 , 238 Tlachtga, 23, 58, 208 Tnúthgal mac Donngaile, 2 1 5 , 278, 292 Tochm arc É ta ln e , 61 T o g a il Bru idn e D d D e rg a , 23, 59 -60 , 62 3 Toirrdelbach, ancestor of Dál Cais, 182 Toirrdelbach ua Briain, 107, 257, 26 1, 2 7 1 2, 276, 279, 297 lolsech, taoiseach, 4 1, 270 Tolomnach, king of U í Liatháin, 241 Tommaltach mac Cathail, 119 , 12 2 -3 . 285 Tommaltach mac M urgailc 2 5 1, 300 Torna Éices, 74 Tortan, battle of, 102 Toynbee, Arnold, 12 Trách l Delossath, 200 Tralee, 2 19 Treth moccu Crcccai, 67 Trian, son of, 147 trialh ‘ high-king’ , 42 trlcha cét ‘ cantred’ , 270 Trim , Á th T ru im , 93 trimoda necessitas, 3 2 - 3 , 160 Tristan, 243 Trom ddm h G uaire, 243 Tro y, to, 7 2 ; Trojans, 106 Tuaim Gréine (Tom graney), 2 14 , 242 Tuam , 15, 230, 271 tuarastal ‘stipend, wages’ , 4 4 -5 , 107, 15 3 lualh, gen. tuaithe, pi. tuatha ‘ people, tribe, kingdom’ , 7 -8 , 14, 2 7 -8 , 3 1 - 2 , 3 5 -9 , 41-3 46, 73, 166, 1 9 5 -7 , 2 1 1, 2 1 6 - 1 8 , 270 Tuatha Dé Danann, 9 - 10 , 55 , 166 Tuathal mac Artrach, 2 1 5 , 278, 293 Tuathal mac Augaire, 1 5 1 , 289

339

Index Tuathal mac M áele-Brigtc, 16 1 , 16 3, 289 Tuathal M áelgarb (Óengarb), 8 1 , 9 0 -9 2, ιο ί, 275> 277» 28ο Tuathal Techtm ar, 1 1, 58, 144 Tudors, 14 Tuilén (Dulane), ιο ιη . Tulach Liss (Tullylisk), 161 Tulach ó c (Tullaghogue), 2 1 , 27, 12 5 Tulach U a Felmeda (Tullow ), 14 3 Turgéis (Turgesius), 2 6 2 -3 Tw elve Tables, 15 U a Brain (O ’Byrne), 130 , 15 1 U a Briain (O ’Brien), family, 1 1 , 4 7 , 70, 165, 18 2, 2 2 7 , 2 6 9 - 7 1 ; Diarmait, 2 7 1 , 279, 2 9 7 ; Domnall M 6r, 18 2, 279, 2 9 7 ; M uirchertach, 128, 146, 1 9 1 - 2 , 25 7 , 2 6 1, 267, 2 7 0 - 7 1 , 276 , 279, 297 U a Brice, 2 1 5 U a /Ó Catháin (O ’ K ane), 2 1 , 12 6 -7 U a Cerbaill (O ’ Carroll), 1 2 5 ; Donnchad, 7 3, 126, 128 U a/Ó Cléirigh (O ’C lery), 15 , 129 U a Conchobair, Ó Conchobhair (O ’ Connor), family, 17η ., i8 , 20, 8 5, 230, 2 5 2 - 3 , 266, 2 6 9 ,3 0 1 ; O ’Connor Sligo, 1 5 ; Conchobar, 270 , 3 0 1 ; Fedhlimidh mac Aedha, 1 6 - 1 7 ; Féilim, 1 5 ; Ruaidri (R ory O ’ Connor), 128, 25 7 , 2 6 1 ,2 7 3 , 276, 3 0 1 ; Toirrdelbach (Turlough), 230, 2 6 1, 270, 2 7 3 , 276 , 301 U a Domnaill, O Domhnaill (O ’ Donnell), family, 15 , 18, 12 9 -3 0 , 2 5 8 ; Conn, 18 ; Sir Hugh (Aodh, ‘ R ed H ugh’ ), 18 U a Dublaige, 14 3 U a hEochada, M ac Eochada, q .v . (Haughey, Hoey, M cC aughey), 12 7 , 286 U a Fáeláin, 2 1 5 U a Flainn (O ’Flynn, O ’ Lynn), 12 5 -6 U a Flaithbertaig (O ’ Flaherty), family, 230, 2 3 7 , 2 5 3 , 299 ; Roderick O ’ Flaherty, O g y g ia , 4 1 , 73 U a Flaithrí, C ú U lad , 119 , 286 U a Flannacáin (O ’ Flanagan), 250 U a Gairmledaig (Gormley), 12 7 Uaithni, 194, 198 U a Loingsig, 126 U a Máelshechlainn (O ’ M elaghlin), family, 87, 14 3, 269, 2 7 3 ; Conchobar, 14 3 , 16 3, 272 U a M athgam na, 12 7 - 8 , 286 U a Néill, Ó Néill (O ’Neill), family, 2 1 , 27, 4 7, 12 7 , 129, 2 8 4 ; Áedh M ór, 12 9 ; Flaithbertach, 119 , 28 4 ; Niall, 129 Uarcraide ua hOsséni, 1 1 8 U a Ruairc (O ’Rourke), family, 2 1 , 8 4 - 5 , 92, 236, 249, 2 5 3 , 29 9 ; Donnchad, 10 7 ;

Tigernán, 2 7 3 , 299 Uasal daughter of Suibne, 154 U atu mac Aeda, 246, 299 U a Tuathail (O ’Toole), 130 , 15 1 U i Ailello, nepotes A ile llo , 8 5, 2 3 1 , 249, 280 U i Bairrche, 12 4 , 1 3 1 , 13 6 -9 , 14 2, 146, 15 5, 288 U i Beccon, 93 U i Bressail, 1 1 8 U i Brigte, 15 5 U i Briúin, 8 4 - 5 , 160, 2 3 1 - 3 , 2 3 6 -7 , 239 , 24 3, 2 4 5 - 5 2 p a ss im , 280, 2 9 8 -9 ; U i Briúin A i, 8 5, 230, 2 3 2 - 3 , 2 3 6 -7 , 246, 249, 2 5 2 , 2 9 9 3 0 1 ; U i B. Bréifni, 84-5.. 9 1, 230, 2 3 2 , 236, 244, 246, 249, 2 5 3 , 266, 29 9 ; U i B. Seóla, 2 2 1 , 230, 2 4 6 -8 , 2 5 3 , 29 9 ; U i B. Sinna, 2 3 2 , 24 6 ; U i B. Um aill, 246, 2 5 1 U i Briúin Chualann, 14 7 , 149, 288 U i Buide, 140, 288 U i Chairpri A ebda, 179, 2 2 7 , 296 U i Chathbad Cuille, 17 8 , 291 U i Cheinnselaig, 2 1 , 1 3 0 - 3 1 , 1 3 7 - 8 , 1 4 1 - 4 , i47~5*» *53» *57-8» i 6 i , 16 3, 2 7 1 - 2 , 288, 290 U i Chernaig, 2 1 4 U i Chéithig, 140 U i Chonaill G abra, 17 9 , 2 1 3 , 2 2 7 , 296 U i Chremthainn, 90, 1 1 5 - 1 8 , 1 2 4 - 5 , 280 U i Chrimthainn A in , 140, 288 U i Chuanach, 17 8 U i Dego, 13 7 , 288 U i Dróna, 149, 288, 290 U i Duach, 168 U i Duirdrenn, 18 8 -9 , *98 U i Dúnchada, 1 5 0 - 5 1 , 15 7 , 289 U i Dúnlaingc, 12 3 , 1 3 0 - 3 1 , 13 6 -8 , 14 1, 148 — 52 , 15 4 , 156, 16 2 -3 , 2 7 1 - 2 , 28 8 -9 U i Echach A rd a, 108 U i Echach Cobo, 39, 10 7 -9 , * *7» **9» *28, 1 6 1 , 287 U i Echach M um an, 1 7 6 - 7 , 195, 2 1 8 , 224, 29* U i Echdach, 118 , 12 5 U i Echthigirn, 2 1 4 U i Enechglaiss, 130 , 13 2 , 1 3 7 - 9 ; *42 > *49» 288 U i Fáeláin, 1 5 0 - 5 1 , 16 0 -3 , 289 U i Failgi, 8 1 , 139 , 14 2, 14 7 , 149, 1 5 2 - 4 , 1 5 6 7, 160, 169, 209, 288 U i Felmeda, 14 3, 149, 288, 290 U i Fiachrach, 2 1 , 8 4 - 5 , 10 3, 2 3 1 - 3 , 2 3 7 - 9 , 2 4 4 -5 , 24 7, 250, 280, 29 8 ; U i Fiachrach Aidne, 84, 92, 129, 2 1 8 , 2 3 7 , 239 , 2 4 1 - 3 , 250, 2 9 8 ; U i F. in Tuaisceirt, 84, 2 3 7 - 9 ; U i F . M uaide, 84, 2 4 8 -9 , 2 9 8 ; U i F. Muirsce, 239 , 2 5 1

34O

Index U í Fiachrach A rd a Sratha, 1 15 U i Fidgeinte, 1 7 1 , 17 6 -9 , 18 1, 19 7, 2 1 3 , 2 1 8 19, 2 2 3, 2 4 1 - 3 , 2 9 1, 296 U i Forga, 22 2 U i Fothaid Aiched, 2 1 5 U i Garrchon, 130 , 138 , 14 2, 149, 15 2 , 15 7 , 288 U i Liatháin, 72, 1 7 7 - 8 , 184, 197, 22 7, 2 4 1, 291 U í Lóegairi, U i Láegaire, 17 7 , 294 U i M acc Uais, 1 1 4 - 1 8 , 126, 280 ; U i M occu (M acc) Uais Breg, 88, 1 1 7 ; U i M acc Uais M idi, 1 1 7 U i M áele Caich, 15 2 U i M aic Brócc, 19 3, 291 U i M aic Caille (Imokilly barony), 197 U i M aic Cairthinn, 1 1 5 , 1 1 7 U i M aic lair, 19 3, 291 U i M aic Láire, 184, 198 U i M áil, 130 , 138 , 149, 1 5 1 , 288 U i M aine (H y M an y), 8 5, 9 2 - 3 , 95, 170, 22 2 , 224, 2 3 0 -3 , 2 3 6 -7 , 239, 24 3, 2 5 0 -5 2 U i M uiredaig, 1 5 0 - 5 1 , 160, 289 U i M éith, 1 15 , 12 5 U i Nadsluaig, 12 5 U i Néill, nepotes N é i l l , 8, 7 0 - 1 , 8 0 -10 5 passim , 1 3 2 , 1 7 i , 1 9 9 ,2 3 3 ; conquer Fifth of Ulster, 46, 5 1 , 74, 8 4 ; decline, 2 6 6 -9 ; descent from Corm ac m ac Airt, 23 , 6 5 -6 , 200; high-kingship, 4 7 , 5 2 - 3 , 5 7 - 8 , 66, 74, 82, 9 6 - 7 , 1 1 1 , 1 1 4 ,1 2 7 ,1 4 4 , 1 6 2 ,1 9 2 ,2 0 1 , 2 0 8 , 220, 2 2 4 - 5 , 2 5 4 - 7 , 2 6 0 -7 ; kings, 8 0 -8 1, 8 7 -8 , 9 0 -10 5 p a ssim , n o - 1 1 , 159, 2 8 0 -4 ; monopolise T a ra kingship, 8 5 -6 , 1 1 3 , 2 3 1 2 ; originally Connachta, 9 - 1 0 , 5 1 , 67, 8 3, 168, 2 3 0 - 1 , 2 3 7 , 28 0 ; relations with A irgialla, 4 7, 73, 8 2, 92, 1 1 5 - 1 7 , 12 4 -6 , 2 1 7 , 2 2 0 ; with Arm agh, 8 2, 1 1 7 , 12 4 - 5 , 2 2 0 - 1, 2 5 5 - 6 ; with kings of Connacht, 2 3 9 -4 1 , 244, 2 4 7 -9 , 2 5 3 , 2 6 1, 2 6 5 - 6 ; with Laigin, >3>> >33-4» 137-8, i 41-8, 151, >54, >5^64, 18 1, 198, 2 0 7 -9 , 2 6 1, 26 5, 2 7 2 ; with Munster, 169, 20 0-20 4, 2 0 7 - 1 1 , 2 1 5 - 1 6 , 2 2 0 - 2 1 , 2 2 3 -6 , 2 6 1, 2 6 4 - 7 ; with Ulaid, 1 0 6 - 1 4 , 1 >7->9, I24 , 1 2 7 - 9 , 210 , 2 6 1 ,2 6 3 ; Northern U í Néill, 69, 7 3 - 4 , 9 1, 9 4 -5 , 10 7 8, 1 1 3 - 1 5 , 1 1 7 - 1 8 , 12 4 -9 , >48, 239, 244, 2 4 7 -8 , 26 3, 2 6 5 -8 , 280, 2 8 3 - 4 ; Southern U í Néill, 54 , 6on., 68 -9 , 84, 8 7 94, 10 4 -5 , I2 5, > 4 2 -3, >47, 2 2 1 , 22 3, 239, 259, 26 5, 2 6 7 -9 , 2 8 0 -8 2 U i Níalláin, 1 16 , 1 1 8 U i Ségáin, 1 18 Uisnech, 58, 64, 8 7 , 9 2 - 3 U i Theig, 15 7 , 288 U i Thoirrdelbaig, 18 2, 2 1 4 , 22 7

34I

U i Thuirtri, 1 1 5 , 1 1 7 , 12 5 -6 Ulster, Coiced n U la d , Fifth of Ulaid, 7, 10, 46, 56, 5 8 -9 , 8 3, 98, 10 6-29, 1 15 , 13 2 , 165, 2 10 , 2 1 7 , 270 ; ancient extent of, 47, 68 -9, 10 7 -8 , 1 1 3, 1 18, 1 3 1 , 24 4 ; connotation of name ‘ Ulster’ , 47, 10 7 -8 , 12 8 - 9 ; destruc­ tion o f ancient Fifth, 46, 5 0 - 5 1 , 7 2 -4 , 82, 84, 10 7 ; earls of, 12 8 ; in heroic saga, 14, 3 2 , 4 8 -5 2 , 62, 7 1 - 2 , 106, 1 7 1 , 2 4 3 - 4 ; kings, 27, 42, 58, 80, 95, 99, 10 6 -7 , 10 9 14, 1 1 7 - 1 9 , 1 2 4 , 1 2 6 - 8 , 1 4 4 , 2 2 3 , 254, 259, 27 2 , 2 8 5 - 7 ; polity, 90, 10 7 -9 , 1 1 8 - 1 9 ; U laid, 8, 10, 46, 106, 108, 20 2; acknow­ ledge high-kingship, 12 7, 22 3, 2 6 3; f l r U la id , 10 8; hostility to U í Néill, 68, 94, 106, n i - 1 4 , 1 1 7 - 1 8 , 124, 12 7 - 8 , 148, 1 6 1, 2 0 1, 2 10 , 2 5 5, 25 7 , 2 6 1 ; in alliance with Laigin, 14 5 -6 , 2 7 2 ; U lid ia , 12 8 ; U lton ia, 17 , 107 Uppsala, 103 Uraicecht Becc, 4 1, 17 5 -6 wr-riy pi. ur-rigy oirriogh ‘ urraght’ , 42 vales,

13, 70

77η. Victor, angel, 192 Vikings, see Norse Vectis In su la,

Voluntii, Ο υ ο λ ο υ ν τ ιο ι

(O uolountioi),

50 ;

see

Ulster, Ulaid Wales, 72, 13 5 , 18 3, 2 7 2 - 3 ; Welsh, Bretain, 10, 1 2 - 1 3 , 1 12, 2 5 7 ; Welsh language, 8 -9 , 1 3, 15 5 , 18 3 ; laws and institutions, 20, 38, 2 6 1, 270, 2 7 3 ; mythology, 52 , 55 , 13 4 -5 , 18 6 ; princes, 8 3, 13 5 , 18 3, 2 7 2 -4 ; see also Britain W allace-Hadrill, J . M ., 256 W are, Sir Jam es, 238 W ars of the Roses, 228 Waste Land, 55 Waterford, 13 2 , 2 1 5 , 268, 2 7 3 ; diocese, 165 Wessex, 30, 38 Wexford, 130 , 2 7 1 - 2 W hitby, synod of, 30, 34 Wicklow mountains, 130 , 149 W ife o f B a t h 's T a le s, 74 Wilfred, St, 34 Windsor, treaty of, 27 3 World Chronicle, 10, 80, 132 , 13 5 W urzburg, 191 Xenophon, A n ab a sis, 44 Yeats, W . B ., T h e k in g 's threshold, 2 4 3 ; T h e only jealo u sy o f E m e r, 62 Yng lin gasaga, Yng lin gatdl, 10 3-4 York, 30, 159

Irish Ki ngs and Hi g h - Ki n g s Irish Kings a n d High-Kings is an analysis of the nature of early Irish kingship. Using annalistic and genea­ logical material to interpret Irish saga and legend Professor Byrne examines the unique blend of pagan tribalism and Christian monasticism which character­ izes the political landscape of early Ireland, exploring the nature of the traditional Five Fifths of Ireland, the mythology of Tara, and the growth of the highkingship of Ireland. Numerous maps and genealogical tables illustrate the development of the great over­ kingships of Ulster, Leinster, Connacht, and Cashel. The confrontation of St Patrick with the Irish kings, the relations between St Colum Cille and his royal cousins, and the ecclesiastical politics of Armagh, Kildare and Clonmacnoise are described and analysed. This new edition includes an essay on the emergence of Irish surnames, additional notes and corrigenda to the first edition and review of recent work in the field. More than twenty years after its original publication, Irish Kings a n d High-Kings remains unsurpassed as an overview of this central theme in Irish history. Francis J. Byrne is Emeritus Professor of Early Irish History at University College, Dublin, and is an editor of the Royal Irish Academy’s A New History o f Ireland.