Southern Uí Néill - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Southern Uí Néill or Uí Néill Deisceart were that branch of the 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....

dynasty that invaded and settled in the Kingdom of Mide

Kingdom of Mide

Mide , spelt Midhe in modern Irish and anglicised as Meath, was a medieval kingdom in Ireland for over 1,000 years. Its name means "middle", denoting the fact that lay in the middle of Ireland....

and its associated kingdoms.

In the initial decades two sons of Niall Noigiallach, Lóegaire

Lóegaire mac Néill

Lóegaire , also Lóeguire, is said to have been a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The Irish annals and king lists include him as a King of Tara or High King of Ireland. He appears as an adversary of Saint Patrick in several hagiographies...

and Coirpre

Coirpre mac Néill

Coirpre mac Néill . , also Cairbre or Cairpre, was said to be a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Coirpre was perhaps the leader of the conquests that established the southern Uí Néill in the midlands of Ireland. The record of the Irish annals suggests that Coirpre's successes were reattributed to...

and their immediate descendants led the dynasty. However, after the murder of Túathal Máelgarb

Tuathal Maelgarb

Túathal mac Cormaic , called Túathal Máelgarb, was said to be a grandson of Coirpre mac Néill. He was High King of Ireland. In the earliest accounts he appears to have been regarded as the man who completed the conquest of what would later be Brega for the descendants of Niall of the Nine...

in about 549, it was left to another branch of the family descended from another of Niall's sons - Conall Cremthainne

Conall Cremthainne

Conall Cremthainne , also called Conall Err Breg, was an Irish king. He was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and one of the progenitors of the Uí Néill dynasty....

- to continue Uí Néill expansion and consolidate their position. No descendants of either Lugaid mac Lóegairi or Túathal Máelgarb are recorded, and it not unlikely that they were either erased from the genealogical record, or indeed literally erased from history.

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

Diarmait mac Cerbaill

Diarmait mac Cerbaill was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ban-feis or marriage to goddess of the land....

, Colmán Már and Áed Sláine

Áed Sláine

Áed mac Diarmato , called Áed Sláine , was the son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Legendary stories exist of Áed's birth. Saint Columba is said to have prophesied his death...

. The former was the progenitor of the Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...

Kings of Mide

In medieval Ireland, the Kings of Mide were of the Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the Uí Néill. Several were High Kings of Ireland. After the collapse of the kingdom in the 12th century its dynasty, the Ua Mael Sechlainn or Ó Melaghlins, were forced west and settled on the east bank of the Shannon...

, while the latter was the eponymous ancestor of the Síl nÁedo Sláine

Síl nÁedo Sláine

Síl nÁedo Sláine is the name of the descendants of Áed Sláine , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne....

Kings of Brega

-Overview:Brega took its name from Mag Breg, the plain of Brega, in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of the Uí Néill kindred, belonging to the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill. The kingdom of Brega included the Hill of Tara, the site...

Southern Uí Néill family tree

Diarmait mac Cerbaill

, died 565.
died 544/549. |
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Colmán Már, d.555/8 Colmán Bec, d. 587. Áed Sláine

Áed Sláine

Áed mac Diarmato , called Áed Sláine , was the son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Legendary stories exist of Áed's birth. Saint Columba is said to have prophesied his death...

, d.604.
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Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin

dynasty Síl nÁedo Sláine

Síl nÁedo Sláine

dynasty

Southern Uí Néill family tree

See also