Airgíalla - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Airgíalla or Airgialla (Modern Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

: Oirialla, Anglicizations: Oriel, Uriel, Orgiall, Orgialla, Oryallia, Ergallia) was the name of an Irish federation and Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

kingdom which first formed around the 7th century. The historical region spanned the provinces of Leinster

Leinster

Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...

and Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

equating with modern day Louth

County Louth

County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...

, and Monaghan

County Monaghan

County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...

.

In early manuscripts the Bishop of Clogher

Bishop of Clogher

The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church.-History:Clogher is one...

was styled Bishop of Oirialla.

The Airgíalla were a group of mainly unrelated dynasties, located in what is now central and southern Ulster

Ulster

, who formed a military federation, seemingly in the late 7th century.
The term Airgíalla was believed to be derived from the Irish orgialla meaning "hostage of gold", but recent research suggests that it is derived from *Airgíallne, meaning "additional clientship." The term was also used to describe the Kingdom of Airgíalla.

Legendary Origins

In the beginning of the 4th century, three warlike princes, called the Three Collas, sons of Eochy Doimhlein, son of Cairbre Lifeachar

Cairbre Lifechair

Cairbre Lifechair , son of Cormac mac Airt, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He came to the throne after the death of Eochaid Gonnat...

, legendary High King of Ireland, of the race of Eremon

Eremon

Érimón, son of Míl Espáine, according to medieval Irish legends and historical traditions, was one of the chieftains who took part in the Milesian invasion of Ireland, which conquered the island from the Tuatha Dé Danann, and one of the first Milesian High Kings.Before coming to Ireland, he and...

, made a conquest of a great part of Ulster, which they wrested from the old possessors, princes of the race of Ir, called the Clanna Rory, or Rudericians.

The Three Collas in the great Battle of Achadh Leithdheirg

Achaidh Leithdeircc

Cath Achaidh Leithdeircc h-i Fernmoigh The Battle of Achadh Leithdheirg, in Fearnmhagh took place in 331The place of the battle has been disputed*Farney, Monaghan, County Monaghan*Loughbrickland, County Down...

in Fearmuighe (also Fearnmhagh), in Dalaradia

Dál nAraidi

Dál nAraidi was a kingdom of the Cruthin in the north-east of Ireland in the first millennium. The lands of the Dál nAraidi appear to correspond with the Robogdii of Ptolemy's Geographia, a region shared with Dál Riata...

, on the borders of Down and Antrim, 331, defeated the forces of Fergus Foga, king of Ulster, who was slain; and the victors burned to the ground Emain Macha

Emain Macha

]Navan Fort – known in Old Irish as Eṁaın Ṁacha and in Modern Irish as Eamhain Mhacha – is an ancient monument in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to Irish legend, it was one of the major power centers of pre-Christian Ireland...

or Emania, (near the present city of Armagh,) the famous palace of the Ultonian kings, which had stood for six centuries, and had been long celebrated by the Irish bards. The place where this battle was fought is called also Carn Achy-Leth-Derg, and is now known as the parish of Aghaderg, in the barony of Iveagh, county of Down, where there still remains a huge Cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

of loose stones near Loughbrickland. The sovereignty of Ulster thus passed from the race of Ir to the race of Heremon.

The names of the three chiefs were Colla Uais

Colla Uais

Colla Uais , son of Eochaid Doimlén, son of Cairbre Lifechair, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His given name was Cairell...

, or Colla the noble, Colla Meann, or Colla the famous, and Colla da Chroich, or Colla of the two territories. Colla Uais became monarch of Ireland 327, and died in 332. The territory conquered by the three Collas comprised the present counties of Louth

County Louth

, Monaghan

County Monaghan

, and Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

.

The name of Airgialla was thought to derive from the circumstance of the Collas having stipulated with the king of Ireland, for themselves and their posterity, that if any chiefs of the clan Colla should be at any time demanded as hostages, and if shackled, their fetters should be of gold: thus, from the Irish, ór, gold, and giall, a hostage, came the name orgialla.

The name 'Airgialla' may be cognate with the Scottish Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

, archaically Argyle (Earra-Ghàidheal in modern Gaelic), the name for a region of western Scotland corresponding with the ancient Dál Riata

Dál Riata

Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...

kingdom. The early thirteenth century author of De Situ Albanie explains that "the name Arregathel means margin of the Scots or Irish, because all Scots and Irish are generally called Gattheli [=Gaels], from their ancient warleader known as Gaithelglas." However, it is often understood to derive from Earra-Ghàidheal, "East Gaels".

History

In the 4th century, aggressive war was initiated by the Three Collas, princely sons of Eochy Doimhlein, himself son of Cairbre Lifeachar

Cairbre Lifechair

Cairbre Lifechair , son of Cormac mac Airt, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He came to the throne after the death of Eochaid Gonnat...

, High King of Ireland

High King of Ireland

The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

, of the race of Eremon

Eremon

. The territory conquered by the three Collas comprised the present countries of Louth

County Louth

, Monaghan

County Monaghan

, and Armagh

County Armagh

. Colla Uais

Colla Uais

Colla Uais , son of Eochaid Doimlén, son of Cairbre Lifechair, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His given name was Cairell...

became monarch of Ireland 327, and died in 332.

They conquered a large part of Ulster from the princes of the race of Ir (aka Clanna Rory; also Rudericians).
The original legend was composed in the second quarter of the 8th century (725-750) to seal an alliance with 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....

.

In 331, at the Battle of Achadh Leithdheirg

Achaidh Leithdeircc

, the Three Collas defeated and killed Fergus Foga, king of Ulster.

The victors burned Eamhain Mhacha

Emain Macha

(English Navan Fort), near Armagh City, capital of the Ulaid which had stood for six centuries, and had been long celebrated by the Irish bards. The sovereignty of Ulster thus passed from the race of Ir to the race of Heremon.

Recent Theories

The earliest reference to the Airgíalla occurs in the Annals of Tigernach under the year 677, where the death of Dunchad mac Ultan, "Rí
Rí
Rí, or very commonly ríg , is an ancient Gaelic word meaning "King". It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings and those of similar rank. While the modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish it is Rìgh, apparently derived from the genitive. The word...

Oigriall", is noted. However, it is suspected of being a retrospective interpolation. On the other hand, the entry in the Annals of Ulster under the year 697 which lists Mael Fothataig mac Mael Dub as "Rex na nAirgialla" may indeed be genuine. Both Mael Fothatag and his son, Eochu Lemnae (died 704) is listed as one of the guarantors of the "Cáin Adomnáin
Cáin Adomnáin
The Cáin Adomnáin , also known as the Lex Innocentium was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, Dál Riatan and Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr in 697. It is named after its initiator Adomnán of Iona, ninth Abbot of Iona after St...

" in 697. Thus it is believed that the Airgíalla were probably in existence as an entity by then, or certainly by the opening years of the 8th century.

The Nine Kingdoms of Airgíalla

The over-kingdom of Airgíalla was itself composed of nine sub-kingdoms, named after their ruling dynasties. They were

Uí Thuirtri
Uí Meic Cairthinn
Uí Fhiachrach Arda Sratha
Uí Moccu Uais
Uí Chremthainn
Uí Méith
Ind Airthir
Mugdorna
Uí Cruinn

The most powerful among them was the Ui Moccu Uais; one of the lesser Airgíalla was its offshoot, the Ui Meic Cairthinn.

However, in general it can be shown that the origin legend was composed in the second quarter of the 8th century to seal their alliance with 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....

(see Cenél Conaill

Cenél Conaill

The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....

and Cenél nEógain

Cenél nEógain

Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...

).

It has since being shown that the Airgíalla were not a kindred

Kindred

In the Heathen movements, a kindred is a local worship group and organisational unit. Other terms used are hearth, theod , blotgroup, sippe, and other less popular ones such as garth, stead, and others....

but a federation, whose members were of diverse origins, resulting in the kingship of the kingdom passing from one unrelated dynasty to another.

Recent DNA testing has shown a unique DNA marker at 425 null or zero for male testers that are part of the R1b haplogroup. This is evidence of a highly related group of people from southern Ulster.

Territory shown on late maps include Dartrey or Dartraighe

Dartraighe

Dartraighe , anglicized as Dartree, Dartry or Dartrey, was a kingdom in ancient Ireland which stretched north to Clones and south to beyond the Dromore river, once belonging to the O'Boylans and McMahons....

, which identified an early Irish tribe, thought to mean "calf people". Their territory stretched west along Abhainn na hÉirne or River Erne

River Erne

The River Erne , in the northwest of Ireland, rises in Beaghy Lough, two miles south of Stradone in County Cavan and flows 64 miles through Lough Gowna, Lough Oughter and Upper and Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, to the sea at Ballyshannon, County Donegal...

through the region which became known as Breifne.

Etymology

The Old Irish Airgialla may derive from orgialla (Irish: ór, gold; giall, hostage, i.e. hostage of gold) based on the following legend.

The Collas stipulated to the king of Ireland that if any chiefs of the clan Colla were at any time demanded as hostages, their shackles should be of gold.

Recent research suggests Airgíallne (additional clientship).

The following have also been applied to this dynasty

Airgialla
Uriel
Orial
Orgialla
Orgiall
Oryallia
Ergallia

The similarly named Argyll

Argyll

Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

, Scotland, has a different etymology.

Sources

Coloniation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland:The English in Louth, 1170-1330, Brendan Smith, Cambridge, 1999
The Kingship and Landscape of Tara, ed. Edel Bhreathnach, 2005; ISBN 1-85182-954-7
"A Hidden Ulster" by Pádraigín Ní Ullacháin, 2003, Four Courts Press 1-85182-685-8 & 1-85182-738-2.
"Songs From A Hidden Ulster", broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 in 2006, presented by Pádraigín Ní Ullacháin.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0ZzkoM-4LiIC&pg=PA1&dq=Community+in+Early+Modern+Ireland&lr=&cd=55#v=onepage&q=&f=false

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Legendary Origins

History

Recent Theories

The Nine Kingdoms of Airgíalla

Etymology

See also

Sources