The Uí Néill
The descendants claimed from Niall of the Nine Hostages, north and south.
Uí Néill
Uí Néill
Name: “Descendants of Niall” — Niall Noígíallach, Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Where:
Donegal, Tyrone, Derry / Londonderry, Meath, Westmeath
When: 6th–10th centuries at their height; northern branches held power in Ulster until 1603
Irish dynasties claiming descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a King of Tara believed to have died around 405. They are divided into the Northern and Southern Uí Néill. The founders of the branches are the alleged sons of Niall, seven in all, and the name Uí Néill itself did not come into use until the time of Niall’s grandsons and great-grandsons. For four centuries the high kingship was, in practice, theirs.
Tradition, not recordNiall is legendary and possibly historical, and his sons as founders are ‘alleged’ in the article. From the 8th century Uí Néill historians may have re-written genealogies, king lists and early annals to project their supremacy back into the undocumented 5th century (see the Northern Uí Néill article).
Kings named:
Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages) (5th century, legendary and possibly historical); Niall Glúndub (killed at Islandbridge, 919); Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (949–1022)
See the branches below for the surnames.
Sources:
Uí Néill (Wikipedia) ↗ · Northern Uí Néill (Wikipedia) ↗ · High King of Ireland (Wikipedia) ↗
Uí Néill in Tuaiscirt
Northern Uí Néill
Name: The northern dynasties claiming descent from Niall; their over-kingdom was first called In Fochla and In Tuaiscert, both meaning ‘the North’, and later Ailech.
Where:
Donegal, Tyrone, Derry / Londonderry
When: From the 5th century in tradition; dominant in the north until 1603
The Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógain, named after Niall’s sons Conall and Eógan. The over-kingdom was first ruled by the Cenél Conaill and became known as Ailech after the Cenél nEógain rose to dominance. About a dozen peoples were eventually counted within the Uí Néill of the North.
Tradition, not recordMedieval texts tell of three sons of Niall invading north-western Ulster around 425. The article notes that the lack of contemporary evidence casts doubt on whether the invasion happened, and even on whether the invaders were Uí Néill at all.
Kings named:
Áed Allán (Cenél nEógain king of Tara, 8th century)
See Cenél nEógain and Cenél Conaill.
Sources:
Northern Uí Néill (Wikipedia) ↗
Cenél nEógain (Kinel-Owen) · branch of Northern Uí Néill
Cenél nEógain
Name: “Kindred of Owen” — Eógan mac Néill, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Where:
Donegal, Tyrone, Derry / Londonderry, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Armagh
When: From the 5th century in tradition to the Flight of the Earls, 1607
First based in Inishowen with their capital at Ailech in Donegal. Pressed by the Cenél Conaill, they spread east into Tyrone and Derry, and by the 11th century their centre had moved to Tullyhogue outside Cookstown. Their over-kingdom of Tír Eoghain, the ‘Land of Owen’, survives in the name of County Tyrone. The O’Neills and MacLaughlins were their two principal septs until the O’Neills defeated the MacLaughlins in 1241.
Kings named:
Niall Glúndub (d. 919; the O’Neills are named from him); Aodh Meth (Hugh the Fat) (King of Ulster 1196–1230); Brian O’Neill (offered the high kingship 1258, killed 1260)
Surnames traced to them:
O'Neill (head family of the Cenél Eoghain), McLoughlin (senior branch of the northern Uí Néill, in Inishowen), Donnelly, Keane (the O’Cahans of Keenaght, Derry), Gormley, Hamill, Laverty, O'Rahilly (a Cenél Eoghain descent, though long a Munster name), Branagan, Toner, Henry (Ó hInneirghe), Tierney (one of three families: chiefs of Fearnmaigh), Murphy (one of several families: chiefs of Síol Aodha in Tyrone), O'Dowd (a separate Ulster family of the name, in Derry)
Sources:
Branches of the Cenél nEógain (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Cenél Conaill · branch of Northern Uí Néill
Cenél Conaill
Name: “Kindred of Conall” — Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Where:
Donegal, Fermanagh
When: From the 5th century in tradition to the Flight of the Earls, 1607
Their kingdom was Tír Conaill, with its power base at Mag Ithe in the Finn valley, and grew to cover what is now Donegal and Fermanagh. They fought their kin the Cenél nEógain regularly and took Ailech in Inishowen by the 12th century. The Cenél Luighdech branch, from the Gweedore river to the Swilly, produced the O’Donnells and O’Dohertys. Saint Columba is claimed as Conall Gulban’s grandson.
Tradition, not recordConall Gulban (said to have died c. 464) is the eponymous ancestor; the article calls him ‘allegedly’ the first Irish nobleman to convert to Christianity.
Kings named:
Conall Gulban (eponym, d. c. 464 in tradition); Máel Coba mac Áedo (chief of the Cenél Conaill from 604)
Surnames traced to them:
O'Donnell (the Ó Domhnaill of Tír Chonaill), Doherty, Boyle, Friel (erenaghs of Kilmacrenan), Gallagher (the Cenél Aedha branch; claimed as its most senior line)†
Sources:
Branches of the Cenél Conaill (Wikipedia) ↗ · Conall Gulban (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Néill an Deiscirt
Southern Uí Néill
Name: The branch of the Uí Néill that settled the kingdom of Mide and its neighbours.
Where:
Meath, Westmeath, Dublin
When: 5th century to c. 1073, the death of their ‘last effective high king’
Led first by Niall’s sons Lóegaire and Coirpre; after about 544 the branch descended from Conall Cremthainne carried on. It split, like the northern branch, into two: Clann Cholmáin, kings of Mide, and Síl nÁedo Sláine, kings of Brega. Other kindreds counted in it were the Cenél nÉndai, Cenél Coirpri, Cenél Lóegaire and Cenél Fiachach.
Kings named:
Diarmait mac Cerbaill (d. 565, ancestor of both main branches); Conchobar Ua Máel Sechlainn (d. c. 1073)
Surnames traced to them:
Kelly (the Ó Ceallaigh of Breagh, lords in Meath and north Dublin), Connolly (one of four families: in East Meath), McKenna (chiefs of Truagh in Monaghan), Molloy (the Cinéal Fiachach, with the Mageoghegans), Geoghegan (Cinéal Fhiachach, from Fiacha son of Niall), Higgins (a literary family in Westmeath), Regan (the O’Regans of Meath, lords of South Breagh), Tierney (one of three families: in Westmeath), Breen (one family: from Maine son of Niall, lords of Brawney)
Sources:
Southern Uí Néill (Wikipedia) ↗ · Uí Néill (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Clann Cholmáin · branch of Southern Uí Néill
Clann Cholmáin
Name: The dynasty descended from Colmán Már, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill.
Where:
Westmeath, Meath
When: Dominant among the Southern Uí Néill from 728 to the 11th century
The kings of Mide, including the kings of Uisnech. After the death of Cináed mac Írgalaig in 728 they replaced the Síl nÁedo Sláine as the leading Southern Uí Néill line. Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, the high king Brian Boru displaced in 1002, was one of them.
Kings named:
Domnall Midi (d. 763); Donnchad Midi (d. 797); Conchobar mac Donnchada (high king ‘with opposition’ 819–833); Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid (d. 862); Flann Sinna (d. 916); Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (d. 1022)
The O’Melaghlins (Ó Maoilsheachlainn) of Meath, whose pedigree the article links. The site has no page for them; the McLoughlin page notes that their name is now also written MacLoughlin but is a different name.
Sources:
Clann Cholmáin (Wikipedia) ↗ · Southern Uí Néill (Wikipedia) ↗
Síl nÁedo Sláine · branch of Southern Uí Néill
Síl nÁedo Sláine
Name: “Descendants of Áed Sláine”, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill.
Where:
Meath, Dublin, Louth
When: Leading Southern Uí Néill line until 728; kings of Brega after
The kings of Brega. The Uí Chonaing branch ruled Knowth in northern Brega; the Uí Chernaig ruled southern Brega from Loch Gabhair. Only one of them, Congalach Cnogba, was high king after 728.
Kings named:
Conall Grant mac Cernaig (d. 718); Fogartach mac Néill (high king, d. 724); Cináed mac Írgalaig (high king, d. 728); Congalach Cnogba (high king, d. 956)
The article names no modern surnames. The site’s clan pages place the Ó Ceallaigh (Kelly) and O’Regan families in Brega, but call them Southern Uí Néill without naming this branch, so they are listed there instead.
Sources:
Síl nÁedo Sláine (Wikipedia) ↗
Connacht
The Connachta and their three branches in the west.
Connachta
Connachta
Name: Dynasties claiming descent from the legendary high king Conn Cétchathach, Conn of the Hundred Battles. The province of Connacht is named from them.
Where:
Roscommon, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim
When: From the 5th century; their branches ruled in the west for a thousand years
Medieval tradition traces them to the sons of Eochaid Mugmedon: Brión, Ailill, Fiachrae and Niall of the Nine Hostages. Brión’s, Fiachrae’s and Ailill’s descendants were the ‘Three Connachta’ of the province; Niall’s, the Uí Néill, outgrew the parent dynasty. Their traditional capital was Cruachan, now Rathcroghan in Roscommon.
Tradition, not recordConn and Eochaid Mugmedon are legendary, and a fifth son, Fergus Caech, is ‘perhaps a literary addition’. The Uí Ailello were later replaced as the third Connachta by the Uí Maine ‘through genealogical sleight of hand’ (Uí Briúin article).
Kings named:
Conn Cétchathach (legendary)
See Uí Briúin, Uí Fiachrach and Uí Maine.
Sources:
Connachta (Wikipedia) ↗ · Uí Briúin (Wikipedia) ↗
Uí Briúin · branch of Connachta
Uí Briúin
Name: Descendants of Brión, son of Eochaid Mugmedon and elder half-brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Where:
Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan, Galway
When: Dominant in Connacht from the 7th–8th centuries; their O’Connor kings to 1198
A royal dynasty of Connacht that overtook the Uí Fiachrach in the 7th and 8th centuries. Three main branches: the Uí Briúin Aí around Cruachan in Roscommon, whose Síol Muireadhaigh produced the O’Connors and MacDermots; the Uí Briúin Bréifne in Cavan and Leitrim, led by the O’Rourkes; and the Uí Briúin Seóla in Galway, with the O’Flaherty kings of Iar Connacht. Every Uí Briúin king of Connacht came from one of the three.
Kings named:
Toirdhealbhach Mór Ua Conchobhair (High King, 12th century); Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor) (High King 1166–1198)
Surnames traced to them:
O'Connor (the O’Connors of Connacht, of the Síol Muireadhaigh)†, MacDermot (Síol Muireadhaigh, the MacDermots of Moylurg), O'Rourke (chiefs of the Uí Briúin Bréifne), O'Reilly (Uí Briúin Bréifne)†, McGovern (Mág Samhradháin, Uí Briúin Bréifne)†, Kiernan (Mág Tighearnáin, Uí Briúin Bréifne)†, O'Flaherty (Uí Briúin Seóla, kings of Iar Connacht)†, Monaghan (chiefs of Uí Briúin na Sionna in Roscommon until 1249), Flanagan (the Roscommon family, Síol Muireadhaigh), Finnerty (Síol Muireadhaigh), Mulvihill (Síol Muireadhaigh), Molloy (a second family, in Roscommon), Sheridan (a family of the name recorded by MacFirbis), Early (a family of the name recorded by MacFirbis)
Sources:
Uí Briúin (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Fhiachrach · branch of Connachta
Uí Fiachrach
Name: Descendants of Fiachrae, an older half-brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Where:
Mayo, Sligo, Galway
When: Rulers of Connacht in early times; lost their over-kingship by the early 8th century
Connacht was ruled by the Uí Fiachrach before the Uí Briúin rose. They split into two branches far apart: the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne in south Galway, and the Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe along the Moy in Mayo and Sligo. They appear once to have been a single over-kingdom, but by the early 8th century were confined to their own territories. The O’Dowd’s inauguration ceremony is preserved in the Great Book of Lecan, written by the Mac Fhir Bhisigh (MacFirbis) family the O’Dowds sponsored.
Kings named:
Guaire Aidne (d. 663)
Surnames traced to them:
O'Dowd (head family of the northern Uí Fiachrach, from King Dathí), O'Shaughnessy (Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, chiefs around Gort), Hynes (chief family of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne for six hundred years), Moran (on both sides of the Moy), Quigley (barony of Carra, Mayo), Kerrigan, Gaughan, Morrissey, Feeney, Coleman, Diskin, Heneghan, Darcy (one branch: chiefs of Partry, Mayo), Tierney (one of three families: lords of Carra), Murphy (one of several families: Skreen and Templeboy, Sligo), Lynch (one of seven families: in Sligo), Kearney (one of three families: in Mayo), Mooney (one of three families: Tireragh, Sligo), Cummins (the Sligo family), Ronan (one family: in Mayo), Ruane (one family: in Mayo)
The site’s clan pages name further single Uí Fiachrach families among the Callaghans, Conways, Cunninghams, Finnegans, Flannerys, Keanes, Lehanes, Moynihans, O’Sheas, Spillanes, Bolands and Muldoons; open each surname for the detail.
Sources:
Uí Fiachrach (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Mháine (Hy Many)
Uí Maine
Name: Descendants of Maine Mór, who is said to have won the territory by war.
Where:
Galway, Roscommon, Offaly
When: Tradition puts its founding c. 357; the O’Kellys ruled into the reign of Elizabeth I
One of the oldest and largest kingdoms of Connacht, about 1,000 square miles across north, east and south Galway and south and central Roscommon, with at one stage land east of the Shannon including Lusmagh in Offaly. There was also a separate Uí Maine of Tethbae east of the Shannon. The O’Kelly of Gallagh and Tycooly is still recognised as a Chief of the Name.
Tradition, not recordMaine Mór’s founding ‘around 357 AD’ and fifty-year reign are tradition. The Uí Maine were traditionally descended from Colla da Crioch, one of the Three Collas of the Airgíalla.
DisputedDNA testing of descendants of Uilliam Buidhe Ó Cellaigh suggests, says the article, that the Uí Maine were not descended from the Three Collas. And the Uí Briúin article says the Uí Maine were added to the Three Connachta by ‘genealogical sleight of hand’.
Kings named:
Maine Mór (founder in tradition); Tadhg Mór Ó Ceallaigh (fell at Clontarf, 1014)
Surnames traced to them:
Kelly (the Ó Ceallaigh of Uí Maine, the greatest family of the name), Madden (same stock as the O’Kellys), Donnellan (hereditary poets of Uí Maine), Mullally, Naughton (Ó Neachtain, in the article’s list)†, Fahy, Concannon, Nevin, Tuohy, Roddy, Egan (brehons and law-school keepers), Duggan (one family: historians to the O’Kellys), Ward (one family: bards to the O’Kellys), Keogh (poets to the O’Kellys), Kennedy (a second family, in Galway), Connolly (one of four families), Darcy (one branch, in Galway), Coogan, Patterson (from Ó Casáin, in Galway), Cunningham (one family), Conway (one family), Ruane (one family)
Sources:
Uí Mháine (Wikipedia) ↗ · Uí Briúin (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Munster
Eóganachta, Dál gCais and the older peoples of the south.
Eoghanachta
Eóganachta
Name: Named after Éogan, firstborn son of the semi-mythological 3rd-century king Ailill Aulom.
Where:
Tipperary, Cork, Kerry, Limerick
When: Dominant in Munster from the 6th/7th to the 10th century; in Desmond to the late 16th
The dynasty centred on Cashel. By tradition it was founded by Conall Corc, who made Cashel his royal seat in the late 5th century; strictly, the name belongs to the branches descended from him. They ruled Munster until the Dál gCais took it in the 10th century, then, in a narrower form, the Kingdom of Desmond. They never provided a High King, though Cathal mac Finguine and Feidlimid mac Cremthanin seriously challenged the Uí Néill.
Tradition, not recordAilill Aulom is semi-mythological; the dynasty’s founding by Conall Corc is ‘by tradition’.
Kings named:
Cathal mac Finguine (d. 742); Feidlimid mac Cremthanin (d. 847); Cormac mac Cuilennáin (d. 908, king-bishop of the glossary)
Surnames traced to them:
McCarthy (chief family of the Eóganacht; kings of Desmond), O'Sullivan (‘same stock as the MacCarthys’), O'Keeffe (of the royal race of Munster), O'Callaghan (from Ceallachán of Cashel), O'Donoghue (one family: lords of Eoghanacht Caisil), Kirby (chiefs of Eoghanacht Áine around Knockainy)
Sources:
Eóganachta (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Dál gCais (the Dalcassians)
Dál gCais
Name: Their genealogies claimed descent from Tál Cas. The site’s MacNamara page gives Cas as the common ancestor of all the Dál gCais.
Where:
Clare, Limerick, Tipperary
When: Rose in the 10th century; kings of Thomond from the 12th to the 16th
Generally accepted by modern scholars as a branch of the Déisi Muman. They built a power base on the Shannon; Brian Boru’s brother Mahon took the kingship of Munster from the Eóganachta, and Brian became High King. They gave Ireland three more high kings after him, then held the Kingdom of Thomond from the 12th to the 16th century.
DisputedTheir own genealogies claimed a separate descent; the article says modern scholarship generally makes them Déisi instead. Whether Clontarf was Irish against Vikings, or nearer a civil war, is still argued (see the High Kings page).
Kings named:
Mahon, Brian’s brother (first Dál gCais king of Munster); Brian Boru (High King 1002–1014); Donnchad mac Briain; Toirdelbach Ua Briain; Muirchertach Ua Briain
Surnames traced to them:
O'Brien (from Brian Boru), MacNamara (next to the O’Briens the most powerful), Kennedy (the O’Kennedys of Ormond), O'Grady, Moloney, Hurley, Galvin, McMahon (the MacMahons of Thomond, a branch of the O’Briens), Quinn (the Ó Cuinn of Thomond), Griffin, Hickey (physicians to the O’Briens), Slattery, Shanahan, Lonergan, Hartigan, O'Dea (but see the Uí Fidgenti), Ahern, Kelleher, Twomey, Enright, Sexton, Reidy, Hogan (one of two families), Regan (the O’Regans of Thomond), Casey (one family, in Coshlea), Sheehan (one of two families), Lynch (one of seven families), Connolly (one of four families)
The Dál gCais article’s own list also names O’Gorman, McInerney and Clancy. The site’s Gorman page is about the MacGormans of Leinster, its McInerney page about erenagh families and its Clancy page about brehons to the O’Briens, so they are not linked here.
Sources:
Dál gCais (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Déise
Déisi
Name: From the Old Irish déis, a vassal or subject: originally a social class of rent-paying people, later the name of particular septs.
Where:
Waterford, Tipperary, Clare
When: Déisi Muman a regional kingdom from early times to the Norman invasion
The peoples called Déisi shared a status, not a common ancestry. In Munster one group, the Déisi Muman, formed a regional kingdom over Waterford and south Tipperary within the Eóganachta hegemony; another branch, the Déisi Tuisceart in Clare, became the Dál gCais. ‘Déise’ is still an informal name for County Waterford.
Tradition, not recordMedieval texts that give the Déisi an aristocratic origin are, the article says, later fabrications from after they gained power. The tale The Expulsion of the Déisi tells their story.
Kings named:
Faelán son of Cormac (king of the Déisi, d. 966 (Annals of Inisfallen))
Surnames traced to them:
Whelan (one of two families: lords of the Déise), Deasy (a place-name surname: ‘one from the Déise’)
The Dál gCais are reckoned a branch of the Déisi Muman; see their surnames above.
Sources:
Déisi (Wikipedia) ↗ · Dál gCais (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Corca Laoighdhe
Corcu Loígde
Name: “Gens of the Calf Goddess”, from Lugaid Loígde, ‘Lugaid of the Calf Goddess’.
Where:
Cork
When: Rulers of Munster until the early 7th century; later a West Cork kingdom
A kingdom centred on West Cork, the central royal sept of the Dáirine, the proto-historical rulers of Munster. They lost the provincial kingship to the Eóganachta in the early 7th century but kept a privileged, non-tributary status. Their closest kin were said to be the Dál Fiatach of the Ulaid.
Tradition, not recordLugaid Loígde is listed as a King of Tara and High King, and Lugaid Mac Con as their most famous ancestor; both are legendary.
Kings named:
Lugaid Mac Con (legendary)
Surnames traced to them:
O'Driscoll (chiefs of Corca Laoighdhe), O'Leary, Flynn (the O’Flynns of Ardagh), Cronin, Cagney, Boyce, Gavin (the Munster family), Duane (one family), Broderick (one family), Nolan (a separate family), Hogan (one of two families), Lynch (one of seven families), Dowling (a second family), Cormack (one branch), Duggan (one family)
The Dinneens were court poets to the lords of Corcu Loígde rather than of their kindred, says their page.
Sources:
Corcu Loígde (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Liatháin
Uí Liatháin
Name: Named from Eochu Liathán, ‘Eochu the Grey’, son of Dáire Cerbba.
Where:
Cork, Limerick
When: Early medieval; their name survives in Castlelyons and the barony of Imokilly
An early kingdom of east Munster, of the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti. Irish and British sources say they had colonies in Wales and Cornwall. Castlelyons, Caisleán Ó Liatháin, in east Cork keeps the name of one of their last royal seats.
DisputedScholars have made them proto-Eóganachta, or Érainn or Dáirine, ‘with no agreement ever reached or appearing reachable’.
Surnames traced to them:
Curran (the Kerry Currans), Lehane (the Cork family, per O’Donovan)
Sources:
Uí Liatháin (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Fidgheinte
Uí Fidgenti
Name: “Descendants of, or of the tribe of, Fidgenti”.
Where:
Limerick, Clare, Tipperary
When: c. 377 to 977 (death of Donovan), declining for three centuries after
An early kingdom of north Munster, mostly in modern County Limerick, closely related to the Uí Liatháin.
DisputedAs with the Uí Liatháin, their origin is unresolved. The article lists O’Dea among the families of Uí Fidgenti descent; the site’s O’Dea page, after Woulfe, calls them a Dalcassian sept. The site’s Hehir page says Woulfe thought them Uí Fidgenti and not Dalcassian, despite living in Thomond.
Kings named:
Donovan (d. 977)
Surnames traced to them:
Donovan (first chiefs of Uí Cairbre Aedhbha, Bruree), Collins (lords of Connello), Flannery (one of two families), Hehir, O'Connell (in the article’s list)†, O'Dea (in the article’s list; disputed)†, Treacy (‘Tracy’ in the article’s list)†, Heffernan (in the article’s list)†
Sources:
Uí Fidgenti (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Leinster
The Laigin and their ruling kindreds, with Osraige.
Laighin
Laigin
Name: A plural people-name, traditionally from láigen, ‘a spear’; the origin is uncertain. Leinster, Cóiced Laigen, is ‘the province of the Leinstermen’.
Where:
Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow, Laois, Offaly, Dublin
When: Prehistoric origins; their descendants ruled until the 17th century
A population group of early Ireland whose territory may once have reached from the Shannon to the Boyne. Their ruling kindreds included the Uí Dúnlainge and Uí Cheinnselaig. The article says surnames of Laigin descent are still among the most numerous in Ireland.
Tradition, not recordThey claimed descent from King Labraid Loingsech. Modern historians suggest they arrived from Gaul or Britain by the 6th century BC and were later fitted into the medieval scheme that made every ruling group descend from Míl Espáine.
Kings named:
Labraid Loingsech (legendary ancestor)
Surnames traced to them:
Dunne (Uí Failghe, lords of Iregan), Gorman (lords of Uí Bairrche), Treacy (one family: lords of Uí Bairrche), Moore (the O’Mores, chiefs of Laois)
Most Leinster surnames are under the Uí Dúnlainge and Uí Cheinnselaig.
Sources:
Laigin (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Dúnlainge · branch of Laigin
Uí Dúnlainge
Name: “Grandsons (or descendants) of Dúnlaing” — Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada, a 5th-century king of Leinster.
Where:
Kildare, Wicklow, Dublin
When: Kings of Leinster unopposed from 738; rotated the kingship 750–1050
After 738 three branches, the Uí Dúnchada, Uí Fáeláin and Uí Muiredaig, took the kingship of Leinster in turn for three hundred years. Fourteen Uí Muiredaig kings, ancestors of the O’Tooles, ruled from Mullaghmast; nine Uí Fáeláin kings, ancestors of the O’Byrnes, from Naas; ten Uí Dúnchada kings, later the FitzDermots, from Lyons Hill.
Kings named:
Murchad mac Brain (d. 727; three of his sons reigned after him)
Surnames traced to them:
O'Toole (Uí Muireadhaigh), Byrne (Uí Faoláin)
The FitzDermots, who gave their names to Dolphin’s Barn and Ballyfermot, have no surname page on the site.
Sources:
Uí Dúnlainge (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Ceinnselaig (Kinsella) · branch of Laigin
Uí Cheinnselaig
Name: “Grandsons of Cennsalach” — Énnae Cennsalach, said to be a contemporary of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Where:
Wexford, Carlow
When: Early kings of Leinster; out of the kingship 738–1042; the MacMurroughs after
First found around Rathvilly in Carlow and the headwaters of the Slaney, later centred on Ferns in Wexford. After 738 they waited three hundred years for another king of Leinster, Diarmait mac Máel na mBó. His descendants through Murchad took the surname Mac Murchada, MacMurrough, and from that branch came Domhnall Caomhánach, founder of the Kavanaghs.
Kings named:
Brandub mac Echach (d. 603); Áed mac Colggen (d. 738); Diarmait mac Máel na mBó (d. 1072); Diarmait Mac Murchada (brought the Normans in)
Surnames traced to them:
Kavanagh (from Domhnall Caomhánach)†, Murphy (the Wexford family, chiefs of Uí Feilme), Kinsella, Garvey (one of three families: around Rathvilly)
Sources:
Uí Ceinnselaig (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Osraighe (Ossory)
Osraige
Name: “People of the deer”, traditionally from the name of the semi-legendary founder Óengus Osrithe.
Where:
Kilkenny, Laois, Tipperary
When: c. 1st century in tradition to the Norman invasion; Upper Ossory to Henry VIII
A kingdom matching the Diocese of Ossory, ruled by the Dál Birn. The Corcu Loígde displaced them in the 5th century and the Dál Birn came back in the 7th. Osraige was nominally part of Munster until 859, when it became independent under Cerball mac Dúnlainge, who made it one of Ireland’s most powerful overlordships. Most of it collapsed under the Normans; Upper Ossory survived as a lordship.
Tradition, not recordIts founding by Óengus Osrithe in the 1st century is tradition.
Kings named:
Cerball mac Dúnlainge (king c. 846–888)
Surnames traced to them:
Fitzpatrick (Mac Giolla Phádraig, the Dál Birn line), Brennan (one of four families: Uí Duach), Brophy (a ninth-century Ossory ancestor)
Sources:
Osraige (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Ulster and Airgíalla
The Ulaid of the north-east, Dál Riata, and the Airgíalla confederation.
Ulaidh (Ulidia)
Ulaid
Name: A people of early Ireland who gave Ulster its name; one of them was an Ultach.
Where:
Down, Antrim
When: Confined east of the Bann by the 6th century; conquered by John de Courcy, 1177
A Gaelic over-kingdom of north-eastern Ireland made up of a confederation of dynasties, some claiming Ulaid descent and some Cruthin. In historical documents ‘Ulaid’ meant the people whose ruling dynasty was the Dál Fiatach. The kingdom ended with John de Courcy’s invasion in 1177 and was replaced by the Earldom of Ulster.
Tradition, not recordIn legend the Ulaid held all of Ulster except Cavan, plus Louth, and they are the heroes of the Ulster Cycle. Their genealogists traced them to the legendary high king Rudraige mac Sithrigi.
Surnames traced to them:
McNulty (mac an Ultaigh, ‘son of the Ulsterman’)
Sources:
Ulaid (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Dál Fiatach · branch of Ulaid
Dál Fiatach
Name: Claimed descent from Fiatach Finn mac Dáire, a legendary King of Ulaid and High King.
Where:
Down
When: Main ruling dynasty of the Ulaid until the Norman conquest
Their territory was eastern County Down, their capital Downpatrick, and from the 9th century their main church was Bangor. Scholars consider them the true historical Ulaid. Their branches included the Uí Blathmaic and the Uí Echach Arda; their last ruling family was Mac Duinn Sléibe.
DisputedAfter the Dál Fiatach declined in the 7th century, the rival and unrelated Dál nAraidi claimed the Ulster Cycle heroes as their own ancestors and called themselves the ‘true Ulaid’; the article calls those claims false.
Kings named:
Demmán mac Cairell (6th century); Fiachnae mac Demmáin (d. 627); Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe (over-king when de Courcy came, 1177)
Surnames traced to them:
McNulty (held to be a branch of the MacDonlevys)
Sources:
Dál Fiatach (Wikipedia) ↗ · Ulaid (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Uí Echach Arda · branch of Dál Fiatach
Uí Echach Arda
Name: The Uí Echach of the Ards. Their land was Aird Ua nEchach, ‘peninsula of the Uí Echach’.
Where:
Down
When: Recorded in the 7th and 8th centuries; broken by the Vikings in the early 9th
The people of the Ards peninsula in County Down, a branch of the Dál Fiatach, who claimed descent from Eochaid Gonnat. They supported Demmán mac Cairell when he took the kingship of Ulaid. After the Vikings destroyed their power in the early 9th century the land became Aird Uladh, ‘peninsula of the Ulstermen’ — the Ards. It was later held by the Mac Giolla Mhuire (Gilmore) family.
Tradition, not recordTheir descent from Eochaid Gonnat is their own claim, reported in the Ards article.
No surname descends from them in our sources. The Gilmores later held the Ards; the article does not say they were of the Uí Echach. Do not confuse them with the Uí Echach Cobo of Iveagh.
Sources:
Ards (territory) (Wikipedia) ↗ · Dál Fiatach (Wikipedia) ↗ · Ulaid (Wikipedia) ↗ · Demmán mac Cairell (Wikipedia) ↗
Dál nAraidi (Dalaradia) · branch of Ulaid
Dál nAraidi
Name: “Araide’s part” — their claimed ancestor was Fiachu Araide.
Where:
Antrim
When: Rivals of the Dál Fiatach for the Ulaid kingship for centuries; reduced to south Antrim by the 12th
A Cruthin kingdom, or confederation of Cruthin peoples, roughly matching County Antrim at its height, with its capital at Ráth Mór outside Antrim town. By the start of the 12th century it was ruled by the Ó Loingsigh and had shrunk to Mag Line in south Antrim.
DisputedThe Ulaid article names the Ó Loingsigh (O’Lynch) as rulers of the Dál nAraidi; the site’s Lynch page, after Woulfe, makes that family chiefs of Dál Riada. The Lynch link is given with that warning.
Kings named:
Fiachnae Lurgan (king of Dál nAraidi and over-king of Ulaid)
Surnames traced to them:
Lynch (Ó Loingsigh; Woulfe says Dál Riada)†
Sources:
Dál nAraidi (Wikipedia) ↗ · Ulaid (Wikipedia) ↗
Uíbh Eachach Cobha (Iveagh) · branch of Ulaid
Uí Echach Cobo
Name: “Descendants of Echu” — Iveagh comes from Uíbh Eachach.
Where:
Down
When: Early medieval; the Magennises were chiefs from the 12th century to the Nine Years’ War
The most prominent sept of the Cruthin, sharing the kingship of Ulaid with the Dál Fiatach and Dál nAraidi. Their territory became the baronies of Iveagh Upper and Lower, and the Diocese of Dromore.
Surnames traced to them:
McGuinness (Magennis, lords of all Uí Eachach), Garvey (one of three families: chiefs of Uí Eachach Cobha)
Sources:
Iveagh (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Dál Riada (Dalriada)
Dál Riata
Name: The article gives no meaning for the name.
Where:
Antrim
When: At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries
A Gaelic kingdom on both sides of the North Channel: Argyll in Scotland and part of County Antrim. Its Scottish kindreds were the Cenél nGabráin, Cenél nÓengusa, Cenél Loairn and Cenél Comgaill, and Iona lay within it. It was later absorbed into the Gaelic kingdom of Alba.
Tradition, not recordIt is said to have been founded by the legendary Fergus Mór in the 5th century.
Kings named:
Áedán mac Gabráin (r. 574–608); Domnall Brecc (d. 642)
Surnames traced to them:
Lynch (one of seven families: Woulfe’s chiefs of Dál Riada; see Dál nAraidi)
Sources:
Dál Riata (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
Oirghialla (Oriel)
Airgíalla
Name: May mean ‘those who give hostages’, ‘hostage-givers’, presumably for the vassal status of its member territories.
Where:
Armagh, Monaghan, Louth, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry / Londonderry
When: From the 6th century; vassals of the Cenél nEógain by 827; Oriel under the MacMahons to 1590
An over-kingdom and confederation of nine minor kingdoms, roughly the dioceses of Armagh and Clogher. Squeezed by the Cenél nEógain and the Southern Uí Néill, it was at its peak in the 12th century under Donnchad Ua Cerbaill. The later, smaller kingdom survived in Monaghan as Oriel under the Mac Mathghamhna.
Tradition, not recordIt was founded, by legend, by the Three Collas after a battle said to be about 331. The article calls this tale ‘mostly fiction’; how the confederation really began is unknown.
Kings named:
Donnchad Ua Cerbaill (12th century); Murchard Ua Cerbaill (1168–1189)
Surnames traced to them:
McMahon (the MacMahons of Oriel), Carroll (the O’Carrolls of Oriel), Maguire (‘same stock’ as the Oriel O’Carrolls, says the Carroll page), Hanlon (chiefs of Uí Nialláin, Armagh), Larkin (one family: lords of Uí Nialláin and Farney), Rogan, Hanratty, Mulgrew, Devaney (chiefs of Uí Breasail), Garvey (one of three families: Uí Breasail), Flanagan (the Fermanagh family), Muldoon (one family: chiefs of Lurg), Cormack (one branch, in Derry), Kelly (the Uí Maine O’Kellys, ‘a branch of the Oirghialla’ (disputed: see Uí Maine))
Sources:
Airgíalla (Wikipedia) ↗
· surnames: the linked clan pages, after Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
† Surname named in the cited Wikipedia article rather than on the site’s own clan page.