Tethbae
Encyclopedia
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...
in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It was divided into two distinct kingdoms, north Tethba, ruled by the Cenél Coirpri, and south Tethba, ruled by the Cenél Maini. It covered parts of County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
and much of County Longford
County Longford
County Longford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford.Longford County Council is the local authority for the county...
, counties which today are the far north-west part of the province
Provinces of Ireland
Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. The Irish word for this territorial division, cúige, literally meaning "fifth part", indicates that there were once five; the fifth province, Meath, was incorporated into Leinster, with parts going to...
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...
.
In some cases Tethbae may refer to south Tethbae only.
Two Tethbae
In Early Christian times, Tethba lay within the lands of the southern Uí NéillUí Néill
The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....
and the ruling dynasties of both kingdoms were reckoned members of the Uí Néill kindred in medieval genealogies. North Tethba—Tethbae Thúaiscirt—was centred on Granard
Granard
Granard is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland and has a traceable history going back to 236 A.D.. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 national secondary road and the R194 regional road...
, while south Tethba—Tethbae Deiscirt—lay around Ardagh
Ardagh
Ardagh may refer to several villages in Ireland:* Ardagh, County Donegal* Ardagh, County Longford* Ardagh, County Limerick, where the Ardagh Hoard was found in 1868* Ardagh, County Mayo, south of Ballina...
.
The division of Tethbae into northern and southern regions was attested in the 7th century. It was not only a political and dynastic division. The chief churches of the two halves belonged to different church confederations. North Tethbae's principal church at Granard was associated with Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
from the earliest written records. Bishop Tirechán
Tírechán
Tírechán was a 7th century Irish bishop and biographer of Saint Patrick. Tírechán wrote his untitled memoir sometime after the death of his mentor, Ultan of Ardbraccan, in 657. The work survives in the manuscript The Book of Armagh.Tírechán's account, which J. B...
's hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
refers to "the two Tethbae" and claims that Patrick established bishops at both Granard and Ardagh. But although Granard is included among the network of Patrician churches, Ardagh is not. The key figure in Ardagh tradition was its founder, Bishop Mél
Saint Mel
Saint Mel or Moel died in 488. He is said to have been a Briton who came to Ireland with Saint Patrick, his uncle, with whom he worked until he was ordained in Ardagh. He helped evangelize Ireland while supporting himself through manual labor. He is one of the earliest Irish saints and gave the...
, according to Patrician accounts a nephew of Patrick. Ardagh, by the time of Tirechán and the earliest records, was a part of the confederation of churches which took Brigit of Kildare as chief patron and looked mainly to the church at Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
for leadership.
Cenél Coirpri
Medieval Irish traditions presented the lands of the Uí Néill as conquests by Niall of the Nine HostagesNiall of the Nine Hostages
Niall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
and his sons. Niall's son Coirpre
Coirpre mac Néill
Coirpre mac Néill . , also Cairbre or Cairpre, was said to be a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Coirpre was perhaps the leader of the conquests that established the southern Uí Néill in the midlands of Ireland. The record of the Irish annals suggests that Coirpre's successes were reattributed to...
was the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous ancestor of Cenél Coirpri. Along with Fiachu
Fiachu mac Néill
Fiachu mac Néill was a king of Uisnech in Mide of the Ui Neill dynasty. He was the son of the high king Niall Noígíallach. According to the king list in the Book of Leinster, he succeeded his brother Conall Cremthainne as king of Uisnech.According to the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, Saint...
, he may have led the earliest Uí Néill conquests in the midlands.
North Tethbae, Cenél Coirpri Mór, was one of three kingdoms named for Coirpre mac Néill. To the north-west of Tethbae, on the eastern shore of Donegal Bay
Donegal Bay
Donegal Bay is an inlet in the northwest of Ireland. Three counties – Donegal to the north and west, Leitrim and Sligo to the south – have shorelines on the bay, which is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean...
, was the kingdom of Cenél Coirpi Dromma Clíab. To the south-east, in County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
, around Carbury
Carbury
Carbury , also formerly spelt "Carbery", is a village in north-west County Kildare, Ireland. It is situated in the on the R402 regional road between Enfield and Edenderry, near the border with County Offaly...
, itself named for Coirpre, was a third branch of Cenél Coirpi but this was not established until much later. This alignment of territories, together with the evidence of the Irish annals
Irish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
, which include a series of entries crediting Coirpe with the conquest of the midlands, suggests that the kingdom of Coirpre once extended over 100 miles across Ireland.
Apart from Coirpre himself and his grandson Túathal Máelgarb
Tuathal Maelgarb
Túathal mac Cormaic , called Túathal Máelgarb, was said to be a grandson of Coirpre mac Néill. He was High King of Ireland. In the earliest accounts he appears to have been regarded as the man who completed the conquest of what would later be Brega for the descendants of Niall of the Nine...
, no king of Cenél Coirpri is included in later lists of High Kings of Ireland. Later kings of Cenél Coirpri are mentioned in the Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
and other Irish annals with some frequency, although usually only to report their deaths. Most kings are simply called "king of Cenél Coirpri", although Conaing (died 752) is specifically called "king of Coirpri of Tethbae". An entry in 799 reporting the deaths of two kings of Coirpri, Murchad ua Cathail and Dub Innrecht mac Artgaile, shows that the kingship could be shared. In addition to the usual annalistic reports, Óengus Bronbachall, grandson of Túathal, is mentioned in Adomnán's Life of Saint Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
.
At least in earlier historical times, Cenél Coirpri may have been of sufficient importance to attract the attention of largely hostile writers. Tirechán's life of Patrick states that Coirpre was cursed by the saint, at the hill of Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
, that none of his descendants would be High King. Túathal Máelgarb is portrayed in a poor light by later writers dealing with the life of Diarmait mac Cerbaill
Diarmait mac Cerbaill
Diarmait mac Cerbaill was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ban-feis or marriage to goddess of the land....
, his perhaps-kinsman whose descendants, Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...
and the Síl nÁedo Sláine
Síl nÁedo Sláine
Síl nÁedo Sláine is the name of the descendants of Áed Sláine , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne....
, replaced the kindreds of Coirpre and Fiachu as rulers of the midlands.
In the 11th century, north Tethbae was largely absorbed by the expanding kingdom of Bréifne
Kingdom of Breifne
The Kingdom of Breifne or Bréifne was the traditional territory for an early Irish tribal group known as the Uí Briúin Bréifne...
, ruled by the Ua Ruairc branch of the Connachta kindred of Uí Briúin
Uí Briúin
The Uí Briúin were an Irish kin-group. Their eponymous apical ancestor was Brion, son of Eochaid Mugmedon and Mongfind, and an elder half brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages. They formed part of the Connachta, along with the Uí Fiachrach and Uí Ailello, putative descendants of Eochaid Mugmedon's...
, and its clients the Conmaicne Réin.
Cenél Maini
While Coirpe mac Néill is a major figure in the annals and appears in Tirechán's hagiography, Maine son of NiallMaine of Tethba
Maine of Tethba or Maine mac Néill was a supposed son of Niall Noigiallach. His existence is very doubtful. Writing of him in 1973, Irish historian Francis John Byrne stated his belief that:...
is not mentioned by Tirechán, nor is their any record of his conquests. It may be, and is perhaps even probable, that descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages through an otherwise poorly attested line of descent is a genealogical fiction designed to strengthen Uí Néill control of the midlands. The Cenél Maini probably originated as part of a much-larger Uí Maine kingdom extending from the eastern part of modern County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
through County Roscommon
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
, across the River Shannon
River Shannon
The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland at . It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
, and into County Longford.
Although officially incorporated into the Uí Néill, no king of Cenél Maini was ever reckoned a High King of Ireland. The Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii
Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii
The Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii is a bilingual Life of Patrick, written partly in Irish and in parts in Latin from the late 9th century. It is the earliest example of a saint's Life written in the Irish language and it was meant to be read in three parts over the three days of the saint's...
does, however, say that the kings of Cenél Maini had a privileged place in choosing and inaugurating High Kings, much like the Airgíalla
Airgíalla
Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...
, another group believed to have been associated with the Connachta, of which the Uí Néill were only the leading group, by genealogical fictions.
The Cenél Maini are still represented today among the Irish nobility
Irish nobility
This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion...
and Chiefs of the Name
Chiefs of the Name
The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan...
by the O'Kearney or Ó Catharnaigh family, the head of whom is traditionally styled The Fox. A leading descendant of the Ó Catharnaigh clan is President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.