Corcu Loígde
Encyclopedia
The Corcu Loígde meaning Gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...

 of the Calf Goddess
, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centered in West County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

 who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...

, the Dáirine
Dáirine
The Dáirine , later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They appear to have derived from the Darini of Ptolemy and to have been related to the Ulaid and Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland...

, of whom they were the principal royal sept. They took their name from Lugaid Loígde
Lugaid Loígde
Lugaid Loídge "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", also known as Lugaid mac Dáire, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland. He is a son of Dáire Doimthech, a quo the Dáirine, and gives his epithet to their principal royal sept, the Corcu Loígde...

 "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", a King of Tara and High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

, son of the great Dáire Doimthech
Dáire Doimthech
Dáire Doimthech, alias Dáire Sírchréchtach, son of Sithbolg, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland, and eponymous ancestor of the proto-historical Dáirine and historical Corcu Loígde of Munster. A son of his was Lugaid Loígde , an ancestor of Lugaid Mac Con...

 (a quo Dáirine). A descendant of Lugaid Loígde, and their most famous ancestor, is the legendary Lugaid Mac Con
Lugaid mac Con
Lugaid Mac Con, often known simply as Mac Con, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the Corcu Loígde, and thus to the Dáirine. His father was Macnia mac Lugdach, and his mother was Sadb ingen Chuinn, daughter of the former High...

, who is listed in the Old Irish Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig
Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig
Baile Chuind Chétchathaig is an Old Irish list of Kings of Tara or High Kings of Ireland which survives in two 16th century manuscripts, 23 N 10 and Egerton 88. It is the earliest such king-list known, probably dating from around 700 AD...

. Closest kin to the Corcu Loígde were the Dál Fiatach
Dál Fiatach
The Dál Fiatach were a group of related dynasties located in eastern Ulster in the Early Christian and Early Medieval periods of the history of Ireland.-Description:...

 princes of the Ulaid
Ulaid
The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a people of early Ireland who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster...

.

Overview

The Corcu Loígde were the rulers of Munster, and likely of territories beyond the province, until the early 7th century AD, when their ancient alliance with the Kingdom of Osraige
Kingdom of Osraige
The Kingdom of Osraighe , anglicized as Ossory, was an ancient kingdom of Ireland. It formed the easternmost part of the kingdom and province of Munster until the middle of the 9th century, after which it attached itself to Leinster...

 fell apart as the Eóganachta
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...

 rose to power. Many peoples formerly subject to the Corcu Loígde then transferred their allegiance to the Eóganachta, most notably the influential Múscraige
Múscraige
The Múscraighe were an important Érainn people of Munster, descending from Cairpre Músc, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, both of Munster, and also the Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland, all being referred to as the Síl Conairi in...

, an Érainn people related only very distantly to the Corcu Loígde. The Múscraige became the chief facilitators for the Eóganachta in their rise to power. Uí Néill
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....

 interference has also been suggested as a major factor, motivated by a desire to see no more Kings of Tara from the Corcu Loígde.

However, from Aimend
Aimend
In Irish mythology and genealogy, Aimend is the daughter of Óengus Bolg, king of the Dáirine or Corcu Loígde. She marries Conall Corc, founder of the Eóganachta dynasties, and through him is an ancestor of the "inner circle" septs of Eóganacht Chaisil, Eóganacht Glendamnach, and Eóganacht Áine, who...

, daughter of Óengus Bolg
Óengus Bolg
Óengus Bolg, son of Lugaid, son of Mac Nia, son of Mac Con, son of Lugaid Loígde, son of Dáire Doimthech, was a king of the Corcu Loígde, and an ancestor of the Eóganachta "inner circle" through his daughter Aimend, married to Conall Corc...

, the Corcu Loígde are related to the inner circle of the Eóganachta through a legendary marriage, as she became the wife of Conall Corc
Conall Corc
Corc mac Luigthig, also called Conall Corc, Corc of Cashel, and Corc mac Láire, is the hero of Irish language tales which form part of the origin legend of the Eóganachta, a group of kindreds which traced their descent from Conall Corc and took their name from his ancestor Éogan Mór. The early...

. They enjoyed a privileged status in the history of the new dynasty. As former rulers of the province the Corcu Loígde were not a tributary kingdom, a status also enjoyed by the Osraige.

In the 12th century they had their kingdom erected into the Diocese of Ross, and their O'Driscoll lords played a significant maritime role in the region. Coffey, O'Leary
O'Leary
O'Leary is an Irish name, an anglicized version of the original Gaelic patronym Ó Laoghaire or Ó Laoire.The Uí Laoghaire clan, today associated with the Uibh Laoghaire parish in County Cork, is considered by scholars to have originated on the south-west coast, in the area of Ros Ó gCairbre , of...

, Hennessy, and Flynn
Flynn
Flynn is a surname of Irish origin it is an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Floinn "descendant of Flann", a byname meaning "red", "ruddy". The name originated in the landlocked county of Laois in the mid-1300s by a large farming family. The name was almost wiped out from both plague and famine,...

 (O'Flynn Arda) were other families of importance, as well as the literary family of Dinneen
Dinneen
Dinneen is a surname of Irish origin. The family was famous for having supplied generations of court poets to their overloards in the ancient kingdom of Corcu Loígde.-List of people with the surname Dinneen:*Bill Dinneen, baseball player...

. O'Hea
O'Hea
O'Hea may refer to:* Charles O'Hea* John Fergus O'Hea* Matt O'Hea* Patrick O'Hea* Timothy O'Hea...

, Cronin
Cronin
Cronin is an Irish surname which originated in County Cork and is derived from the Old Irish word crón, meaning saffron-colored. It may refer to:* A.J. Cronin , Scottish novelist* Anthony Cronin , Irish poet...

, Dunlea, and other families also may belong to the Corcu Loígde.

A substantial part of the profitable maritime lands once dominated solely by the Corcu Loídge were incorporated into the medieval Barony of Carbery
Barony of Carbery
Carbery, or the Barony of Carbery, was once the largest barony in Ireland, and essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom on the southwestern coast of Munster, in what is now County Cork, from its founding in the 1230s by Donal Gott MacCarthy to its gradual decline in the late 16th and early...

, in which the O'Driscolls would retain some status as one of the three princely families underneath the MacCarthy Reagh
MacCarthy Reagh
The MacCarthy Reagh dynasty are a branch of the great MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the ancient Eóganachta, of the central Eóganacht Chaisil sept. The MacCarthys Reagh seated themselves as Princes of Carbery in what is now southwestern County Cork in the 13th century...

s. Some of the western portion of their territory became the Barony of Bantry (County Cork)
Barony of Bantry (County Cork)
Bantry is a barony in the west of County Cork in Ireland.Patrick Weston Joyce said the name Beanntraí means "descendants of Beann [Ban]", a son of Conchobar mac Nessa; similarly for the Wexford barony of Bantry....

.

See also School of Ross
School of Ross
The School of Ross was a monastic institution located in what is now called Rosscarbery, County Cork, Ireland, but formerly Ross-Ailithir , from the large number of monks and students who flocked to its halls from all over Europe....

.

Legendary pedigree

Several of the following were misplaced chronologically by later medieval synchronists.
  • Bolg (Sithbolg)
    • Dáire Doimthech
      Dáire Doimthech
      Dáire Doimthech, alias Dáire Sírchréchtach, son of Sithbolg, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland, and eponymous ancestor of the proto-historical Dáirine and historical Corcu Loígde of Munster. A son of his was Lugaid Loígde , an ancestor of Lugaid Mac Con...

       a quo Dáirine
      • Lugaid Loígde
        Lugaid Loígde
        Lugaid Loídge "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", also known as Lugaid mac Dáire, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland. He is a son of Dáire Doimthech, a quo the Dáirine, and gives his epithet to their principal royal sept, the Corcu Loígde...

         a quo Corcu Loígde
        • ... (possibly missing generations)
          • Mac Con
            • Mac Nia (alternatively Mac Con's father or double)
              • Lugaid
                Lugaid
                Lugaid is a popular medieval Irish name, thought to be derived from the god Lug. It is borne by a number of figures from Irish history and mythology, including:High Kings of Ireland...

                • Óengus Bolg
                  Óengus Bolg
                  Óengus Bolg, son of Lugaid, son of Mac Nia, son of Mac Con, son of Lugaid Loígde, son of Dáire Doimthech, was a king of the Corcu Loígde, and an ancestor of the Eóganachta "inner circle" through his daughter Aimend, married to Conall Corc...

                   = Coel, a quo Úi Builc
                  • Nath Í (Na Tri)
                    • Etarscél a quo O'Driscoll
                  • Maine a quo Úa Maine
                    • Liadán = Lugna
                      • Ciarán of Saigir
                  • Aimend
                    Aimend
                    In Irish mythology and genealogy, Aimend is the daughter of Óengus Bolg, king of the Dáirine or Corcu Loígde. She marries Conall Corc, founder of the Eóganachta dynasties, and through him is an ancestor of the "inner circle" septs of Eóganacht Chaisil, Eóganacht Glendamnach, and Eóganacht Áine, who...

                     = Conall Corc
                    Conall Corc
                    Corc mac Luigthig, also called Conall Corc, Corc of Cashel, and Corc mac Láire, is the hero of Irish language tales which form part of the origin legend of the Eóganachta, a group of kindreds which traced their descent from Conall Corc and took their name from his ancestor Éogan Mór. The early...

              • Duach
                • Gérán
                  • Conall Clóen (line of Coffey)
                • Threna
                  • Óengus a quo Úi Óengusa (Hennessy)
                  • Mac Eircc (line of O'Leary)
              • Eochaid (or Fiachra)
                • Badomna (line of O'Flynn Arda)
            • Fothad Cairpthech and Fothad Airgthech
        • Rechtaid Rígderg
          Rechtaid Rígderg
          Rechtaid Rígderg , son of Lugaid Laigdech, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing Macha Mong Ruad, daughter of his father's killer, Áed Rúad. He ruled for twenty years, until he was killed by Úgaine Mór, foster-son of...

      • Eochaid Étgudach
        Eochaid Étgudach
        Eochaid or Eochu Étgudach or Etgedach son of Dáire Doimthech, a descendant of Lugaid mac Ítha, nephew of Míl Espáine, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...



Another Irish monarch belonging to the Corcu Loígde was Eochaid Apthach
Eochaid Apthach
Eochu Apthach of the Corcu Loígde of County Cork, a distant descendant of Breogán, the father of Míl Espáine, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing the previous incumbent, Bres Rí...

, but if in any way historical he has not only been misplaced chronologically but cannot be even placed in the above pedigree due to the extensive corruption of the supposed generations preceding "Bolg" (Sithbolg). It was early noted by John O'Donovan
John O'Donovan (scholar)
John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...

 and has been noted repeatedly by all his successors that the Corcu Loígde genealogies are among the most confused in the entire Irish corpus, so the above scheme should be understood with that in mind.

One important generation not reproduced here is that of Deda
Deda mac Sin
Deda mac Sin was a prehistoric king of the Érainn of Ireland, possibly of the 1st century BC. Variant forms or spellings include Dedu, Dedad, and Dega...

 (a quo Clanna Dedad), the most recent common ancestor of the Dál Fiatach
Dál Fiatach
The Dál Fiatach were a group of related dynasties located in eastern Ulster in the Early Christian and Early Medieval periods of the history of Ireland.-Description:...

 and Dál Riata
Dál Riata
Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...

 of Ulster and Scotland in several official pedigrees. However, variants of his name can be found in the early generations of several Corcu Loígde pedigrees: Deaghmanrach, Deadhmannra and Deagha Dearg.

Legend and history

A peculiar fact about the Corcu Loígde is their almost total lack of political activity following the mid Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...

. Having formerly held sway over a vast territory, they appear to have almost completely disintegrated over the course of the 7th century, never making any serious attempts to recover what was at that time the largest kingdom in Ireland. Thus over the next centuries their former grandeur became more and more the stuff of legend, around which the younger kingdoms built their own origin legends. The most well known tale in this cycle is the Cath Maige Mucrama.

Satellite kingdoms

Former satellite kingdoms of the Corcu Loígde, and who may once have been closely related to them, were probably the early medieval sister kingdoms of Uí Fidgenti
Uí Fidgenti
The Uí Fidgenti or Wood-Sprung People were an early kingdom of northern Munster, situated mostly in modern County Limerick, but extending into County Clare and County Tipperary, and possibly even County Kerry and County Cork, at maximum extents, which varied over time...

 and Uí Liatháin
Uí Liatháin
The Uí Liatháin were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example The Expulsion of the Déisi...

. Evidence for this is that not only do they appear to have been artificially attached to the stem of the Eóganachta, whose own pedigree is very unreliable before Conall Corc, but that important early septs like the Uí Duach Argetrois of Osraige cannot be definitively attached to the lines of either the Uí Liatháin-Fidgenti or the Corcu Loígde. In addition there were an early line of O'Learys attached to the Uí Fidgenti.

Later centuries

By the late 16th century the two most prosperous families remaining were the Ó hEidirsceoil
Ó hEidirsceoil
Ó hEidirsceoil, Gaelic-Irish surname, anglicised as Driscoll.-Overview:The surname derives from the forename Eidirsceol, who was alive in the early-to-mid 10th century...

 princes, with several castles in and around Baltimore
Baltimore, County Cork
Baltimore is located in western County Cork, Ireland. Baltimore is the principal village of the parish of Rath and the Islands, the southernmost parish in Ireland...

, including Dunasead Castle
Dunasead Castle
Dunasead Castle , is a 17th century fortified house situated in the town of Baltimore in western County Cork, Ireland.-History:The present castle is not the first to have been built on the site...

, and the O'Learys, who had built several castles south of Macroom
Macroom
Macroom is a market town in Ireland located in a valley on the River Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee, between Cork and Killarney. It is one of the key gateways to the tourist region of West Cork. The town recorded a population on 3,553 in the 2006 national census...

.

The Ó hEidirsceoil's and Baltimore

The history of the Ó hEidirsceoil
Ó hEidirsceoil
Ó hEidirsceoil, Gaelic-Irish surname, anglicised as Driscoll.-Overview:The surname derives from the forename Eidirsceol, who was alive in the early-to-mid 10th century...

 clan and the seaside village of Baltimore are inextricably linked. The first historical mention of the Ó hEidirsceoil (anglacised O'Driscoll) clan occurs in the Annals of Inisfallen where the death in 1103 of Conchobar Ua hEtersceóil king of Corcu Loígde was recorded. The surname O'Driscoll is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Ó hEidirsceóil which is has the meaning of "diplomat" or "interpreter." (eidir ‘between’ + scéal ‘story’, ‘news’).

The originator of the name is thought to have lived in the 9th century. Prominent in the village today is the restored castle of Dunasead (castle of jewels) which was an Ó hEidirsceoil stronghold built around 1600 as a fortified house probably by Sir Fineen Ó hEidirsceoil, who was a knight of Queen Elizabeth I. As the power of the Corcu Loígde alias Dáirine as Kings of Munster, Tara, and a large part of Ireland faded in the dark ages, their empire broken up, their center of political power shifted south into the wild country of West Cork, or Ross Carbery as it is known in local history, and this is where the O'Driscoll clan has been prominent throughout history.

Baltimore is a strategic harbor town on Roaringwater Bay located west of Kinsale and east of Mizen Head. Baltimore Harbor is protected by two offshore Islands Cape Clear to the west and Sherkin Island. During the medieval period which was the height of the Ó hEidirsceoil's influence, they had fortresses on these islands as well as near Lough Ine which is a salt water lake on the nearby coast to the east of Baltimore. The Ó hEidirsceoil heritage is territorially associated with these lands around Baltimore, and an oral legend has it that if any seafarer were to land on the Islands of Sherkin or Clear or the mainland of West Carbery, that an Ó hEidirsceoil would require payment of a dockage fee. The Ó hEidirsceoil's were historically a seafaring clan who had up to 100 sailing vessels in their fleet which were used in both fishing and policing the local waters. The Ó hEidirsceoil's in this era were known to trade extensively with France, Portugal and Spain. Merchant ships whether they were foreign or from neighboring towns such as Waterford when sailed into Ó hEidirsceoil waters were sometimes considered fair game.

Sir Fineen is remembered locally as somewhat of a rouge since as a political expedience he opened the local lands to English "planters" and in doing so saved his homelands from falling to local invasion by the local O'Mahony, O'Leary and MacCarthy clans, with the help of the English whose fleet he harbored. Sir Fineen himself was driven in his dotage to live on a small island in Lough Ine as a recluse and oral history claims that he grew rabbit's floppy ears. He is said to have died in England or Spain on a mission to Queen Elizabeth I whose death preceded his own. His heirs may have survived in Baltimore and abroad but were never again political chiefs in the historical era.

Several years after Sir Fineen's demise, the village of Baltimore suffered a catastrophic defeat as recorded in the Annals of Kinsale, when it was sacked in 1631 by Algerian mercenaries led by a Waterford man John Hackett who was later hanged for this crime of revenge. Legend has it that Hackett's boat was seized by the Algerians and that he refused to guide them into Kinsale but instead led the Barbary coast pirates to Baltimore claiming its riche possibly because of the historical dispute between Waterford and the Ó hEidirsceoils. Ironically, nearly all of the 107 captives that were taken from Baltimore by the Turks were for the most part the English "planters," who were made into galley slaves or harem girls and only two of whom were ever returned to Ireland.

The Ó hEidirsceoil's appear to have survived the Sack of Baltimore quite well either in the offshore islands or by clinging to the highlands of "The Hill" overlooking Baltimore's cove where the pirates landed, or retreating to the surrounding hollows or to the upstream town of Skibbereen. To the current time the Ó hEidirsceoil's claim ownership of "The Hill" in Baltimore as well as many lots and farms in the Islands as well as on the nearby River Ilen and to many other properties in West Cork.

The O'Learys

  • Auliffe O'Leary - joined the side of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone in the Nine Years' War
    Nine Years' War (Ireland)
    The Nine Years' War or Tyrone's Rebellion took place in Ireland from 1594 to 1603. It was fought between the forces of Gaelic Irish chieftains Hugh O'Neill of Tír Eoghain, Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tír Chonaill and their allies, against English rule in Ireland. The war was fought in all parts of the...

  • Art Ó Laoghaire
    Art Ó Laoghaire
    Art Ó Laoghaire , a Roman Catholic, was an officer in the Austrian army.Having returned home to Rathleigh House near Macroom, Cork, Ireland, Art refused to sell his prize-winning horse to Englishman Abraham Morris, and was thus made an outlaw...

     - immortalized by his widow Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill
    Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill
    Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill also Eileen O' Connell, was an Irish noblewoman and poet, the composer of Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire....

     in the Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire
    Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire
    Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire or the Lament for Art Ó Laoghaire is an Irish keen, or dirge written by his wife Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill. It has been described as the greatest poem written in either Ireland or Britain during the eighteenth century....

  • Peadar Ua Laoghaire
    Peadar Ua Laoghaire
    Father Peadar Ua Laoghaire was an Irish writer and Catholic priest, who is regarded today as one of the founders of modern literature in Irish.-Life:...

     - celebrated Irish language writer and descendant of the lords of Carrignacurra

French wine

Corcu Loígde trade with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 dates from the Middle Ages. The Ó hEidirsceoils are known from an early time to have had a trading fleet active along the French Atlantic Coast in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...

, as far south as Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...

, importing wine back to their region and into Munster.

Hennessy Cognac

After serving as a mercenary for Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

, the Corcu Loígde nobleman Richard Hennessy would establish his famous Hennessy Cognac on land given him by the king in compensation. Several of his descendants have gone on to distinguish themselves in French politics, notably Jean Hennessy
Jean Hennessy
Jean Patrick Hennessy was a French politician.Hennessy was born at Cherves-Richemont in the Charente département, son of Maurice Hennessy and his wife Jeanne, née Foussat. His very wealthy family, of Irish origin, were the proprietors of the Hennessy cognac business, now part of LVMH...

.

Sites of interest

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