The Ui Diarmada included the
O’Concannons (O Concheanainn) and O’Mullens (O Maolain). The O’Concannons
were chiefs of Corca Mogha (Corcamoe) in the northeast of County Galway. Their chief
resided at Kiltullagh, in the parish of Kilkerrin, which is also called Corcamoe after
their territory. The O’Mullens are of the same stock as the O’Concannons, and
their territory bordered on that of O’Concannon, in northeast County Galway.
The Ui Fiachrach Finn included the O’Mullallys (O
Maolalaidh)—"grandson of the speckled chief") and O’Naghtens (O
Neachtain). The Ui Fiachrach Finn originally inhabited the fertile plain of Maonmhagh,
being the area surrounding Loughrea in south-central Galway, but were dispossessed by the
Burkes soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion, and forced to seek territory elsewhere.
The O’Mullallys settled in the parish of Tuam in northern Galway,
their new territory comprising the lands known as Tulach na Dala (Tullaghnadaly), or
Tolendal, four miles north of the town of Tuam. The O’Mullallys were ardent
Jacobites, adhering to the Stewart cause in the wars of the seventeenth century. James
Lally of Tullindaly sat as representative of Tuam in King James’s parliament of 1689.
After the Jacobite defeat he retired to France with his brother Gerald. Gerald married a
noble French lady, and their son and grandson became famous in Europe under the title
Count Lally de Tollendal. The O’Naghtens were chiefs of Maonmhagh before the
Anglo-Norman invasion, after which they removed to the Feadha, or Fews, of Athlone in
South Roscommon, where they formed a distinct clan down to the reign of Elizabeth I (ca.
1580).
The Oirghialla
The Oirghialla were closely related to the Ui
Maine, as mentioned above. They were the Laiginian allies of the North-Gaelic tribe of Ui
Neill, which virtually monopolized the high-kingship of Ireland during the post-fifth
century historical period. The Oirghialla helped the Ui Neill effect the conquest of most
of Northern Ireland from the Ulster Erainn, and later they settled a vast territory there
including the counties of Louth, Armagh, Monaghan and Fermanagh, a territory which is
called after them, Oriel. so important were they in the Ui Neill political sphere that
they were given an honorary traditional descent (which was nonetheless fake and thinly
disguised) from the great-grandfather of Nial of the Nine Hostages, ancestor of the
O’NeilIs of the line of Conn. Their representatives in the later Middle Ages include
the MacBradys, O’Boylans, O’Flanagans, O’Mulroonys or Moroneys, Maguires,
MacKernans, MacAuleys, O’Cassidys, O’Corrigans, MacManuses, MacMahons, MacCanns,
O’Hanraghtys, O’Hanlons, O’Lynns, MacEvoys, MacDonalds, MacDonells,
MacAlisters, Maclans, MacSheehys, Maclntyres, MacDougals, and Conns.
The MacBradys (Mac Bradaigh) were a powerful family of Breffny (Cavan
and West Leitrim), being chiefs of Cuil Bhrighed or Cuil Bhrighdein, which |
