this territory and settled in Monaghan
and Glare. The Glare branch became very numerous, and their chiefs became marshalls
(military commanders) under the O’Briens. The form O’Gorman is now used by some
who have resumed the use of Gaelic prefixes, however, MacGorman is the proper form.
The Ui Fidhgheinte
The Ui Fidhghe late were originally located in the west of County
Limerick, where they were settled as allies of the Eoghanacht, coming later to be regarded
asabranch of that tribe, of whom they were twice kings (in 796 and 909). Their chief septs
in the later Middle Ages were the O’Cullanes, O’Kinneallys, O’Donovans and
MacEnerys.
The Ui Conaill Gabhra were a clan anciently
residing in the south Limerick baronies of Upper and Lower Connelloe, Shanid and Glenquin.
Their modern representatives are the O’Cullanes and O’Kinneallys. The
O’Cullanes (0 Cuileain) , originally lords of Connelloe, were driven out of this
territory and settled in southwest Cork near their O’Donovan kinsmen. The
O’Kinneallys (0 Cinnfhaolaidh) were originally settled in the present baronies of
Upper and Lowet Connelloe in south Limerick, but soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion,
they were dispossessed of their lands by the Fitzgeralds and others, and are afterwards
found settled in West Limerick and Kerry.
The O’Donovans (0 Donnabhain) were the
chiefs of the Ui Cairbre Aedhbha, a clan which included as well the MacEnerys. The
principal stronghold of the O’Donovans was at Bruree. About 1178 they were driven
from this territory and subsequently settled in southwest Cork, where they wrested a
territory from the O’Driscolls of Corca Laoighdhe with the aid of their old allies,
the Eoghanacht O’Mahonys. To this territory they gave their clan name of Ui Cairbre,
retaining considerable power and land in this new quarter down to the close of the
Jacobite wars in the late seventeenth century. Branches settled in Wexford and Kilkenny.
The MacEnerys (Mac Inneirghe) were anciently chiefs of Corcomohid, in the barony of Upper
Connelloe, in the south of County Limerick. They had a castle at Castletown MacEniry, the
ruins of which remain to this day. Although their territory was eroded by the encroachment
of the Anglo-Normans after the twelfth century, the MacEnerys retained a considerable
portion of their patrimony down to the revolution of 1688.
The Ulaid
The Ulaid were the great Erainnian people who gave their name to Ulster,
and it is they who are celebrated in the Ulster Cycle. Their direct royal representatives
in historical times were the Dal bhFiatach of County Down, but they also encompassed the
Ui Duach and Dal Riada as well.
The Dal bhFiatach or MacDonlevys (Mac
Duinnshleibhe) were a warlike clan |
