Early History
Connacht is provided with natural borders by the river Shannon and Loch Ree in the east and the Curliew Mountains on the northeast. The Ulster Cycle has the legendary warrior-queen Medb and her husband Ailill rule the province from their royal seat at Cruachain (Rathcroghan), the capital of Connacht, a complex of ringforts, mounds, and earthworks. It is located in the traditional heartland of the later kings of Connacht, the Uf Chonchobair, who employed the nearby prehistoric burial cairn of Carnfree as a royal inauguration site.
The name Connacht is derived from the Connachta dynasty, which according to tradition takes its name from Conn Cetchathach ("of the Hundred Battles"), legendary king of Ireland. According to the genealogies, from him were descended the brothers Niall Nofgiallach ("of the Nine Hostages"), Brion, Fiachra, and Ailill, progenitors of the Uf Neill, Uf Briuin, Uf Fiachrach, and Uf Aililla, respectively. The Uf Neill allegedly originated in Connacht, but migrated into the midlands and then the north of Ireland. The other three dynasties remained in Connacht.
Between the fifth and the eighth centuries the Uf Fiachrach was the most prominent Connacht dynasty. However, it split into two branches, with the Uf Fiachrach Aidni settling in the south and the Uf Fiachrach Muaide in the northwest of the province. Rivalry within Uf Fiachrach led to its weakening, and from the third quarter of the eighth century none of their kings became kings of Connacht. In the eighth century the Uf Aililla was also in decline. The vacuum left by this dynasty opened the way for the Uf Maine, a quite powerful dynasty, although unrelated to the Connachta. The Uf Maine, of which the Uf Ceallaigh was later the dominant branch, settled in the southeast.
Of the various Connacht dynasties, the Uf Briuin emerged as the strongest. This dynasty split into the Uf Briuin Ai, Uf Briuin Seola, and Uf Briuin Breifne. The former stayed in the original Uf Briuin territory around the traditional royal seat in Connacht. They again splintered, and one of their branches developed into the Sfl Muiredaig, from whom sprang the Uf Chonchobair kings of Connacht. Due to the dynasty’s later significance, early regnal lists of Connacht have undergone extensive revision to give the Uf Briuin more distinction. The Uf Briuin Seola were forced into lands centred on Loch Corrib, and the Uf Briuin Breifne found a new home in what are now approximately Counties Leitrim and Cavan. Throughout the medieval period Breifne 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 seventh 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 technically, 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 Uf Chonchobair. From Connacht’s most powerful sept emerged Tairrdelbach Mor Ua Conchobair (1088-1156), whose remarkable career culminated in his occupying the high kingship of Ireland. His son and successor Ruaidn 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 Uf Chonchobair were the Meic Diarmata of Moylurg, who played an essential part in the inauguration of the king of Connacht. Another princely family within the Sfl Muiredaig was the Meic Donnchada of Tfr Ailillo. The Uf Flaithbertaigh, the dominant branch of the Uf Briuin Seola 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 Uf Maille, neighbours of the Conmaicne Mara, who have left a trace of their prominence in the name Connemara. Of the Uf Briuin Breifne, the Uf Ruairc gained prominence in the west, and the Uf Ragallaig in the east of Breifne.
The province is not the most suitable for agriculture due to the presence of extensive bogs, rocky outcrops, and forests. Because of these factors, and also owing to its location remote from the governmental 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 thirteenth century the area under control of the Uf 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 northwest, 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 Uf Chonchobair split into the Uf Conchobair Ruad and Uf Chonchobair Donn in 1384. Another branch, the Uf Chonchobair Sligigh, settled in Sligo.
