Between the fifth and the eighth centuries the Uí
Fiachrach was the most prominent Connacht
dynasty. However, it split into two branches, with
the Uí Fiachrach Aidni settling in the south and the
Uí Fiachrach Muaide in the northwest of the prov-
ince. Rivalry within Uí Fiachrach led to its weaken-
ing, and from the third quarter of the eighth century
none of their kings became kings of Connacht. In
the eighth century the Uí Aililla was also in decline.
The vacuum left by this dynasty opened the way for
the Uí Maine, a quite powerful dynasty, although
unrelated to the Connachta. The Uí Maine, of which
the Uí Ceallaigh was later the dominant branch, settled
in the southeast.
Of the various Connacht dynasties, the Uí Briúin
emerged as the strongest. This dynasty split into the
Uí Briúin Ai, Uí Briúin Seóla, and Uí Briúin Bréifne.
The former stayed in the original Uí Briúin territory
around the traditional royal seat in Connacht. They
again splintered, and one of their branches developed
into the Síl Muiredaig, from whom sprang the Uí
Chonchobair kings of Connacht. Due to the
dynasty’s later significance, early regnal lists of Con-
nacht have undergone extensive revision to give the
Uí Briúin more distinction. The Uí Briúin Seóla
were forced into lands centred on Loch Corrib, and
the Uí Briúin Bréifne found a new home in what are
now approximately Counties Leitrim and Cavan.
Throughout the medieval period Bréifne was regarded
as being part of the province also. Another area that
was considered to be part of Connacht, though only
in the early Middle Ages, was that portion of Thomond
(literally North Munster) that is now County Clare.
According to tradition, the region was conquered in
the fifth century by Munster kings; however, the
hegemony of the Connacht king Guaire in the sev-
enth century seems to have reached into Thomond.
Clonmacnoise, founded in the sixth century, became
the richest and most prestigious of the ecclesiastical
centers in Connacht’s sphere of influence, though it
suffered from many Viking incursions and techni-
cally, sited just east of the river Shannon, it lay
outside the province. It became the burial place of
the kings of Connacht.
The Anglo-Norman Era
Although Connacht enjoyed prominence in ancient
times, it exerted no great influence beyond its own
borders again until the twelfth century, with the rise
of the Uí Chonchobair. From Connacht’s most power-
ful sept emerged Tairrdelbach Mór Ua Conchobair
(1088–1156), whose remarkable career culminated in
his occupying the high kingship of Ireland. His son
and successor Ruaidrí ruled at the time of the Anglo-
Norman invasion and was Ireland’s last high king. A
clear mark of Tairrdelbach’s eminence was his success
in procuring a pallium for Tuam, the archbishopric
of Connacht, comprising the dioceses of Clonfert,
Killala, Achonry, Annaghdown, Mayo, Roscommon,
Kilmacduagh, and Elphin.
Foremost among the subjects of the Uí Chonchobair
were the Meic Diarmata of Moylurg, who played an
essential part in the inauguration of the king of Con-
nacht. Another princely family within the Síl Muire-
daig was the Meic Donnchada of Tír Ailillo. The Uí
Flaithbertaigh, the dominant branch of the Uí Briúin
Seóla dynasty, were contenders for the kingship of
Connacht in the eleventh century. They were unable to
procure a supreme uncontested position, however, and
were pushed into Iar-Connacht (Connacht west of Loch
Corrib). Umall was occupied by the Uí Máille, neigh-
bours of the Conmaicne Mara, who have left a trace of
their prominence in the name Connemara. Of the Uí
Briúin Bréifne, the Uí Ruairc gained prominence in the
west, and the Uí Ragallaig in the east of Bréifne.
The province is not the most suitable for agricul-
ture due to the presence of extensive bogs, rocky
outcrops, and forests. Because of these factors, and
also owing to its location remote from the govern-
mental center of gravity in the Anglo-Norman era,
colonization was not as thorough in Connacht as it
was, for example, in Leinster. Early in the thirteenth
century, the king of England granted the king of
Connacht a part of the province as hereditary land,
the “King’s Five Cantreds” (cantreds were territorial
units, many of which later became baronies). This
area comprised roughly County Roscommon, with
small parts of Counties Galway and Sligo. The
remaining twenty-five cantreds were granted to the
de Burghs (Burkes). In the second half of the thir-
teenth century the area under control of the Uí Chon-
chobair was further reduced to a mere three cantreds.
The de Burghs held demesne lands southeast of Galway
and subinfeudated the greater part of Connacht to
families such as Bermingham, Fitzgerald, and Costello
(formerly de Angelo, Nangle). By the end of the
medieval period, the de Burgh family had split into
the MacWilliam de Burghs, with lands in the north-
west, and the ClanRicard, with lands in the south of
the province extending into Thomond, while Berming-
ham and Costello held lands in mid-Connacht. The
main line of the Uí Chonchobair split into the Uí
Conchobair Ruad and Uí Chonchobair Donn in 1384.
Another branch, the Uí Chonchobair Sligigh, settled
in Sligo.
FREYA VERSTRATENCONNACHT