Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne (also known as Hy Fiachrach) was a kingdom located in what is now the south of Co. Galway. In the centuries prior to the historical era, the
AidhneAidhne also known as, Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne, Maigh Aidhne / Maigh nAidhne was the territory of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, a tuath located in the south of what is now County Galway in the south of Connacht, Ireland. Aidhne is coextensive with the present diocese of Kilmacduagh...
branch of the
Ui FiachrachThe Uí Fiachrach were a dynasty who originated in, and whose descendants later ruled, the coicead or fifth of Connacht at different times from the mid-first millennium onwards. They claimed descent from Fiachrae, an older half-brother of Niall Noigiallach or Niall of the Nine Hostages...
dynastyA dynasty is a succession of people belonging to the same family, who, through various means and forms maintain power, influence or authority over the course of generations. Most commonly the term is used specifically in reference to royal houses and imperial dynasties — their authority manifests...
emerged as the ruling tuath in this part of
ConnachtConnacht , formerly Anglicised as Connaught, is the western province of Ireland, comprising counties Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo. Its main urban centres are Galway in the south, and Sligo in the north...
. Their territory was known as Aidhne or Maigh Aidhne / Maigh nAidhne and also by the tribal name Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne. The diocese of Cill Mhic Dhuach /
KilmacduaghKilmacduagh is a small village in south County Galway, near Gort, in Ireland. It is best known for Kilmacduagh monastery, seat of the Diocese of that name and in the Diocese of Limerick, Ardfert, Aghadoe, Killaloe, Kilfenora, Clonfert, Kilmacduagh and Emly in the Church of Ireland....
is coextensive with the territory of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne, which covers all of the barony of
KiltartanKiltartan is a barony in County Galway, Ireland. It was formerly known as Cenél Áeda na hEchtge. It was the home of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and a regular residence of W.B. Yeats.It is alluded to in Yeats's poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death....
and large parts of the baronies of
LoughreaLoughrea is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The town lies north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains. Olive Loughnane lives here....
and Dunkellin.
Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne (also known as Hy Fiachrach) was a kingdom located in what is now the south of Co. Galway. In the centuries prior to the historical era, the
AidhneAidhne also known as, Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne, Maigh Aidhne / Maigh nAidhne was the territory of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, a tuath located in the south of what is now County Galway in the south of Connacht, Ireland. Aidhne is coextensive with the present diocese of Kilmacduagh...
branch of the
Ui FiachrachThe Uí Fiachrach were a dynasty who originated in, and whose descendants later ruled, the coicead or fifth of Connacht at different times from the mid-first millennium onwards. They claimed descent from Fiachrae, an older half-brother of Niall Noigiallach or Niall of the Nine Hostages...
dynastyA dynasty is a succession of people belonging to the same family, who, through various means and forms maintain power, influence or authority over the course of generations. Most commonly the term is used specifically in reference to royal houses and imperial dynasties — their authority manifests...
emerged as the ruling tuath in this part of
ConnachtConnacht , formerly Anglicised as Connaught, is the western province of Ireland, comprising counties Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo. Its main urban centres are Galway in the south, and Sligo in the north...
. Their territory was known as Aidhne or Maigh Aidhne / Maigh nAidhne and also by the tribal name Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne. The diocese of Cill Mhic Dhuach /
KilmacduaghKilmacduagh is a small village in south County Galway, near Gort, in Ireland. It is best known for Kilmacduagh monastery, seat of the Diocese of that name and in the Diocese of Limerick, Ardfert, Aghadoe, Killaloe, Kilfenora, Clonfert, Kilmacduagh and Emly in the Church of Ireland....
is coextensive with the territory of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne, which covers all of the barony of
KiltartanKiltartan is a barony in County Galway, Ireland. It was formerly known as Cenél Áeda na hEchtge. It was the home of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and a regular residence of W.B. Yeats.It is alluded to in Yeats's poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death....
and large parts of the baronies of
LoughreaLoughrea is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The town lies north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains. Olive Loughnane lives here....
and Dunkellin. In the eleventh century the Ó hEidhin / O Heyne / Hynes clan would emerge as the principal clan of the Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne. The
Anglo-NormanThe Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William of Normandy in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
invasion of Connacht in the 1200s considerably reduced the power of the Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne. The Clanricarde Burkes, the Norman family who led this invasion, captured a good deal of the north and east of the territory of Aidhne. After the 1200s the Ó hEidhin clan were largely confined to a sub district of Aidhne known as Coill Ua bhFhiachrach, which is the area covered by the modern Catholic parish of
KinvaraKinvara , is a sea port village located in the south of County Galway in the province of Connacht on the west coast of Ireland. Kinvara is also the name of the parish in which the village is situated...
. The Ó hEidhin clan remained the lords of Aidhne up until they lost their power and lands after the
Cromwellian conquest of IrelandThe Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of the English Parliament in 1649...
in the middle of the seventeenth century.
Three other important clans of the Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne included the
O ShaughnessysÓ Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname of Irish origin.The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick...
(Ó Seachnasaigh), the O Clearys (Ó Cléirigh) and the (Mac) Kilkellys (Mac Giolla Cheallaigh). The O Clearys were kings of the territory before the O Hynes clan but were exiled from the territory probably in the years following the
Anglo-NormanThe Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William of Normandy in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
invasion of Connacht. Under the patronage of the O Donnells of Ulster the O Clearys went on to become one of the most famous learned families in Ireland. Up until the late 1600s the O Shaughnessys held the sub district of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne known as Cinéal nAedha na hEchtghe, which was also their clan name. Cinéal nAedha na hEchtghe / Kinelea consisted roughly of the
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
es of Beagh, Kilmacduagh and Kiltartan and also parts of the civil parishes of Kibeacanty and Kilthomas. During the 1600s the O Shaughnessys became more important than the O Hynes clan even though the Ó hEidhin was still styled the lord of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne. In the 1690s the O Shaughnessys had their lands confiscated for supporting the
JacobiteJacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
cause against
William of OrangeWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...
. A legal battle raged on into the first half of the 1700s between the O Shaughnessys and the s, the family who were granted the O Shaughnessy lands, with the O Shaughnessys eventually losing the case. The senior line of the O Shaughnessys may have died out in the 1780s. The (Mac) Kilkellys held the sub district of Aidhne known as Cinéal nGuaire, which is the area covered by the modern Catholic parish of Ballinderreen. They lost their lands in the Cromwellian confiscations during the middle of the 1600s.
The following were
Kings of ConnachtThe Kings of Connacht were rulers of the cóiced of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named after The Connachta.The old name for the province was Cóiced Ol nEchmacht . Ptolemy's map of c.150 A.D...
from the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne line:
- Colmán mac Cobthaig
Colmán mac Cobthaig was a king of Connacht from the Ui Fiachrach branch of the Connachta. He was the first king of Connacht from the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne branch. This branch was descended from Eochu, the brother of Ailill Molt...
(d.622)
- Loingsech mac Colmáin
Loingsech mac Colmáin was a king of Connacht from the Ui Fiachrach branch of the Connachta. He was of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne sept this branch and was the son of Colmán mac Cobthaig....
(d.655)
- Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin was a king of Connacht. A member of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne and son of king Colmán mac Cobthaig . Guiare ruled at the height of Ui Fiachrach Aidne power in south Connacht.-Early reign:...
(d.663)
- Muirchertach Nár mac Guairi
Muirchertach Nár mac Guairi was a possible King of Connacht from the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne branch of the Connachta. He was the son of Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin, famous in Irish sagas....
Aidne(d.668)
- Fergal Aidne mac Artgaile
Fergal Aidne mac Artgaile was a King of Connacht from the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne branch of the Connachta. He was the grandson of Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin, the hero of many Irish sagas, and was the last member of this branch to hold the overlordship of Connacht.The kinglists have misplaced his reign by...
mac Guaire(d.696)
See also
- Cenél Áeda na hEchtge
Cenél Áeda na hEchtge was a trícha cét Cenél Áeda na hEchtge (also Cenél Áeda, Kenloth, Kinalethes, Kenealea, Kinelea)was a trícha cét Cenél Áeda na hEchtge (also Cenél Áeda, Kenloth, Kinalethes, Kenealea, Kinelea)was a trícha cét (later a cantred, (a branch of the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne) and which...
- Cenél Guaire
- Muintir Máelfináin
- Meadraige
- Corca Moga
- Óic Bethra/Ofecherath
- Uí Fidgenti
The Uí Fidgenti or Wood People were an early kingdom of northern Munster, situated in County Limerick and with outposts in County Clare...
External links