Nuala Ní Conchobair was Queen

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 of Ulaid

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...

.

Ní Conchobair was a daughter of King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair

Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair

Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair , often anglicised Rory O'Connor, reigned as King of Connacht from 1156 to 1186, and from 1166 to 1198 was the last High King before the Norman invasion of Ireland .Ruaidrí was one of over twenty sons of King...

 (c.1116-1198) and a wife of King Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe of Ulaidh

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...

 (died 1201).

After the fall of the kingdom to John de Courcy

John de Courcy

John de Courcy was a Anglo-Norman knight who arrived in Ireland in 1176. From then until his expulsion in 1204, he conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the Benedictines and the Cistercians and built strongholds at Dundrum Castle in County...

, the Mac Duinn Sléibe dynasty

Dynasty

A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 were obliged to seek protection in Connacht

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. 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...

. They were again forced to move as a result of the encastellation of Connacht by Richard Mor de Burgh

Richard Mor de Burgh

Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Lord of Connaught , Justiciar of Ireland.-Background:De Burgh was the eldest son of William de Burgh and a daughter of Domnall Mór Ua Briain, King of Thomond. His principal estate was in the barony of Loughrea where he built a castle in 1236 and a town was founded. He also...

, with the result that they were dispersed and faded utterly from power.

Following the death of her husband in 1201, Nuala apparently lived somewhere in north Galway, near Cong

Cong

Cong may refer to:*Cong , a form of jade artifact from ancient China*Cong , a Chinese surname.*Cống people, an indigenous people of about 1,700 in Vietnam*Cong, County Mayo, a village in the Republic of Ireland...

, where she was interred upon her death in 1226:

Nuala inghen Ruaidhri Uí Conchobhair baintighearna Uladh d'écc i c-Conga Fechin, & a h-adhnacal go h-onórach i t-teampall canánach Conga/Nuala, daughter of Roderic O'Conor, and Queen of Ulidia, died at Conga Fechin, and was honourably interred in the church of the Canons at Cong.