Just as there were several different levels of kingship in early Ireland, so are there instances where the title "queen" is applied to women at all levels of the royal hierarchy: the wives of petty kings, of provincial kings, of the Ui Neill kings of Tara, and of the later high kings of Ireland. The title usually bestowed is "queen of a king," although there are some instances where the outright title of "queen" is used. Most of the latter instances involve women who fall into the rare category of wives who predeceased their husbands, a pattern that may indicate Irish queenship denoted a distinct office rather than merely being the king’s wife. Possibly, there could have been only one queen of a kingdom at any given time, so that when a king died his widow became simply "queen of a king," with the wife of her husband’s successor becoming the queen. Alternatively, since many of the instances involving the outright title of "queen" are later than those involving "queen of a king," it has been suggested that the switch may indicate an elevation in the status of Irish queenship over time.
Other evidence indicating that Irish queenship may have been a distinct office include the existence of specific mensal lands that seem to have been assigned to queens, and the phenomenon that no matter how many wives a king was known to have had, the Annals of Ulster mostly record obits for only one queen per king, and never accord the title of either "queen" or "queen of a king" to more than one wife of the same king. Perhaps, then, a king could have only one designated queen per reign, and any other spouse was regarded simply as the king’s wife.
While Irish queenship may have been a distinct office, historical Irish queens did not—despite depictions of the legendary pre-Christian queens Medb and Macha as strong monarchs in their own right—rule independently of their husbands. This is not to say, however, that the women were powerless. Both historical and literary accounts attest to their involvement in politics, acknowledging that the counsel of royal women, both solicited and not, could influence their husbands’ and sons’ actions considerably. The frequently noted presence of queens on their spouses’ royal circuits and military hostings would have facilitated greatly their direct involvement in royal affairs.
Back at home, an important function of the queen appears to have been the provision of hospitality at her husband’s court. Other dimensions of the queen’s role included patronage of the church, as both a benefactor of religious institutions—for many queens seem to have had considerable personal wealth—and an intercessor between the church and her husband. If the evidence of later bardic compositions may be applied to pre-Norman queens, the queen’s role included patronage of poets as well.
Perhaps most important of all was the queen’s function as a partner in interdynastic alliance. Her participation in a royal marriage was intended to cement or inaugurate a political alliance between her family and that of her husband, both in the generation of the union itself and in that of any children resulting from the marriage, for motherhood constituted another major element of Irish queenship. Multiple marriages were very common among both kings and queens, with divorce and death contributing to marital careers encompassing what seems to have been an average of three partners per spouse.
A particularly fascinating aspect of the involvement of queens in multiple marriages is that in situations involving a switch in dynastic power within a kingship, the new king not infrequently married the widow of the old. It has been suggested that in these cases the queen was seen to symbolize the sovereignty of the land and that marriage to her constituted a claiming of the kingship. It should be noted, however, that in virtually every one of these instances, great animosity had existed between the new king and his predecessor. While the sovereignty interpretation may have some validity, the marriage should likely also be seen as an act of hostile triumph. A large proportion of queens ended their days in religious life within a convent, some of whom may have retired there, voluntarily or otherwise, after having fulfilled such symbolic requirements. Others may have retired there precisely in order to avoid being treated as a pawn in this way. That many chose to retire to a monastery associated with their birth family underlines that despite multiple marriages, the queens still had strong bonds to their native dynasties.
