Barony of Morgallion
Encyclopedia
Morgallion is one of the baronies that comprise county Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

.

The Múrna
Mourne (barony)
Mourne is a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies in the south-east of the county, with the Irish Sea to its east. It is bordered by two other baronies: Iveagh Upper, Lower Half and Iveagh Upper, Upper Half to the north and west...

 (Old Irish: Mugdorna) were pushed out of northern Meath sometime after 800 by the Gailenga
Gailenga
Gailenga was the name of two related peoples and kingdoms found in medieval Ireland in Brega and Connacht.-Origins:Along with the Luighne, Delbhna, Saitne and Ciannachta, the Gailenga claimed descent from Tadc mac Cein mac Ailill Aulom. Francis John Byrne, in agreement with Eoin MacNeill, believes...

 Mora. The Gailenga left their name in the barony of Morgallion in northern County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

. Tribes of the Gailenga Mora were located in the baronies of Morgallion and Lower Kells in county Meath, and the barony of Clankee in County Cavan
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...

, in the early eighth century.

A branch of the Gailenga settled in Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...

, and they gave the name to the territory of Mor-Gailenga, or the great Gailenga, which became the barony of Morgallion.

In 1172 King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

 granted the Kingdom of Meath to Hugh de Lacy to hold as King Murrough O Melaghlin held it. Once established de Lacy proceeded to divide up his newly acquired territory into feudal grants to his chief followers. He granted the territory of the Gaileanga-Mor sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...

 (the lands of Magherigalon, later to be known as the Barony of Morgallion) to Gilbert de Angulo
Gilbert de Angulo
-Biography:A son of Jocelyn de Angulo, Gilbert held the barony of Machaire Gaileng . Upon his rebellion in 1195 all his lands were forfeited - given by Walter de Lacy to his brother, Hugh, about 1198 - and Gilbert and his brothers Phillip and William outlawed.Gilbert fled English jurisdiction and...

, who had arrived from Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 in 1171. The caput
Caput
The Latin word caput, meaning literally "head" and by metonymy "top", has been borrowed in a variety of English words, including capital, captain, and decapitate...

 of the barony was at Nobber
Nobber
Nobber is a village in north County Meath, Ireland. The village is built near a river called the Dee and near Whitewood Lake which is situated in the town land of Whitewood. It is on the Navan–Kingscourt road about north of Navan. This places the village about from the M50 motorway ; the...

 where de Angulo constructed a Motte
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

close to the site of an earlier ecclesiastical site.

At Knock, in Morgallion barony, is an argillaceous clay deposit containing a portion of iron, which has been adapted for the coarser kinds of earthen-ware.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK