Southern Uí Néill

Ireland about the year 900

The Southern Uí Néill (Irish: Uí Néill an Deiscirt, [iː ˈnʲeːl̠ʲ ə ˈdʲɛʃcəɾˠtʲ]) were a branch of the Uí Néill dynasty that invaded and settled in the Kingdom of Mide and its associated kingdoms.[1]

Two sons of Niall Noigiallach, Lóegaire (fl. c. 450) and Coirpre (fl. c. 480), initially led the dynasty. As did their immediate descendants. However, after the murder of Túathal Máelgarb in about 544, it was left to another branch of the family descended from another of Niall's sons – Conall Cremthainne – to continue Uí Néill expansion and consolidate their position. No descendants of either Lugaid mac Lóegairi or Túathal Máelgarb are recorded.[citation needed]

Just as their kinsmen the Northern Uí Néill split into two main branches, so too did the Southern Uí Néill, both being descended from sons of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, Colmán Már and Áed Sláine. The former was the progenitor of the Clann Cholmáin, while the latter was the eponymous ancestor of the Síl nÁedo Sláine.[2] Clann Cholmáin ruled the kingdom of Mide, while Síl nÁedo Sláine were Kings of Brega.[1]

According to A Dictionary of British and Irish History (2020), the "last effective high‐king of the Southern Uí Néill" was Conchobar Ua Máel Sechlainn.[3] A member of the "Clann Cholmáin dynasty of the Uí Néill", he died c. 1073.[4]

Southern Uí Néill family tree

   Niall Noigíallach, d. 450/455?
   |                   
   |_________________________________________________________
   |                       |                |
   |                       |                |                     
   Coirpre                 Lóegaire         Conall Cremthainne  
   |                       |                |
   |                       |                | 
   Cormac Cáech            Lugaid           Fergus Cerball      
   |                       d. 507           |
   |                                        |
   Túathal Máelgarb                         Diarmait mac Cerbaill, died 565.
    died 544/549.                           |
    ________________________________________|______________________
   |                      |                             |
   |                      |                             |
   Colmán Már, d.555/8    Colmán Bec, d. 587.           Áed Sláine, d.604.
   |                                                    |
   |                                                    |
   Clann Cholmáin dynasty                               Síl nÁedo Sláine dynasty

See also

Further reading

  • Karkov, Catherine E.; Ruffing, John (1997). "The Southern Uí Néill and the political landscape of Lough Ennell". Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland. 11: 336–358. doi:10.1484/J.Peri.3.288.
  • O'Flynn, Eoin (2013). "The Dublin Vikings and the Clann Cholmáin kings of the southern Uí Néill". In Duffy, Seán (ed.). Medieval Dublin XIII: proceedings of the Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium, 2011. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 13–26. ISBN 1846823897.

References

  1. ^ a b Purcell, Emer; Sheehan, John (2013). "Viking Dublin: Enmities, Alliances And The Cold Gleam Of Silver". Everyday Life in Viking-Age Towns: Social Approaches to Towns in England and Ireland, c. 800-1100. Oxbow Books. pp. 35–60. doi:10.2307/j.ctvh1dmk1. The main Southern Uí Néill dynasties were Clann Cholmáin, who ruled the kingdom of Mide, and Síl nÁedo Sláine, who ruled Brega, while their northern cousins were Cenél nEógain and Cenél Conaill
  2. ^ Downham, Clare (2017). Medieval Ireland. Cambridge University Press. p. 92. ISBN 110854794X. [The] Southern Uí Néill [..] were split into two main groups that dominated the east midlands, namely Síl nÁedo Sláine and Clann Cholmáin
  3. ^ Peberdy, Robert; Waller, Philip, eds. (2020). A Dictionary of British and Irish History. John Wiley & Sons. p. 642. ISBN 1119698421. The last effective high‐king of the Southern Uí Néill was Conchobar Ua Máel Sechlainn (ruled 1030–73)
  4. ^ Mac Shamhráin, Ailbhe (October 2009). "Ua Máelshechlainn, Conchobar". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.008749.v1.