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User:Angusmclellan/Eóganachta

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Map showing the major kingdoms and regions of early Christian Ireland.[1]

The Eóganachta, also Éoganachta, were one of the major dynastic groupings of early Christian Ireland. They dominated modern Munster, and styled themselves rulers of the Leth Moga, the southern part of Ireland. Their chief political centre was the Rock of Cashel, in modern County Tipperary, their chief church that of Emly.

The Eóganachta warred frequently and inconclusively with the Uí Néill, rulers of the Leth Cuinn, over their rival claims to be overlords of Leinster. While eighth century Kings of Tara fought to control Leinster, ninth century Uí Néill kings attacked Munster itself, seeking to subjugate the Eóganachta. In the same period, Vikings raided and settled on the Irish coasts, further weakening the power of the Eóganachta kings. During the tenth century, previously subject tribes, such as the Dál gCais led by Brian Bóruma, gained power in Munster, thus ending centuries of Eóganachta dominance.

Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid is said to have led an army raised from all Ireland against

In the Viking Age, the kingdom of Osraige was detached from Munster and added to Leinster, by then securely dominated by the Uí Néill. Viking attacks, and the loss of Osraige, weaked the Eóganachta kingdom. By the middle of the ninth century, Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid campaigned in Munster to obtain the submission of the Eóganachta. The tenth century saw further attacks by Vikings and the Uí Néill, and the rise of new dynasties in Munster to replace the weakened Eóganachta.

Origins

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The origins of the Eóganachta and their rivals the Uí Néill lie in the period before history began. Like the rival Connachta from whom the Uí Néill traced their descent, the Eóganachta claimed to belong to the Féni, who are presumed to have been a confederation of peoples in Connacht. As the Uí Néill claimed descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, whose name they bore, the Eóganachta claimed descent from Éogan. The mechanisms whereby these groups came to dominate Ireland outwith the reduced kingdoms of Leinster and Ulster are obscure, and the record opens with the Eóganachta settled throughout Munster, with the presumed original tribes scattered among them.

The origin-tale of the Eóganachta is found in the The Story of the Finding of Cashel, and the story of Conall Corc and the Corco Loígde. These date from the late seventh or easrly eighth century, many generations after the events they recount. Another view of the Eóganachta is provided by the Frithfolad Muman ("The Counter-Obligations of Munster") which sets out the obligations of the Eóganachta overking to his subject peoples.

Tribes of Munster

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The principal non-Eóganachta tribes were the Corco Mruad, Corco Baicinn, and Déisi Tuisceart of Tuadmumu (Thomond), north of the River Shannon. To the south were the Ciarraige Luachra, Corco Duibne, Uí Fidgenti, of Iarmumu [West Munster]. To the east, the Corco Loígde of Desmumu (County Desmond) and east and north again, the Uí Liatháin, Déisi Muman, Múscraige, and Osraige of Aurmumu (the Earldom of Ormonde). As with the subject peoples of the Uí Néill, many of these peoples held fertile, valuable territories, making a simple conquest of Munster by the Eóganachta appear unlikely.

Kings of Leth Moga

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The Eóganachta claimed by right to be kings of Leth Moga. Early Christian Ireland was habitually divided into two halves. The northern half, the Leth Cuinn, named for Conn Cétchathach, eponymous ancester of the Connachta, was dominated by the Uí Néill. Originally, this included Connacht, and Ulster, and Uisnech. In time it came to include Leinster, originally a part of Leth Moga, Mug Nuadat's half. Mug was said to be the grandfather of the Éogan from whom the Eóganachta claimed descent.

Rise of the Dál gCais

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Notes

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  1. ^ After Duffy, p. 17, and Byrne, pp. 172–173.

References

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See also

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Old Article

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The Eóganachta (or Eoghanachta), by tradition founded by Eógan, king of Munster, the firstborn son of the semi-mythological third-century king Oilill Ollum, was an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 5th to the 16th century. Eógan had a younger brother, Cas, who is said to have originated the rival Dál gCais dynasty of Ireland. The Dál gCais displaced the increasingly divided Eóganachta during the course of the 10th century.[1]

Eóganachta surnames include MacCarthy, O'Sullivan, O'Mahony, O'Donoghue, O'Moriarty, O'Keefe, O'Callaghan.

The septs or branches of the Eóganachta and some of their more notable members include:

References

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  1. ^ Lalor, Brian (2003). The Encyclopedia of Ireland. Yale University Press. p. 360. ISBN 0-300-09442-6.
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