View source for Connachta

{{Short description|Group of medieval Irish dynasties}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox family
|surname =Connachta
|country = Ireland
|parent house = Dál Cuinn
|titles = 
*[[Cruachan, Ireland|Kings of Cruachan]]
*[[Kings of Connacht]]
*[[Kings of Tara]]
*[[High Kings of Ireland]]
*[[Kings of Breifne]]
*peerage titles
|founder = [[Eochaid Mugmedon]]
|final ruler =
|current head = [[O'Conor Don]]
|founding year =4th century AD
|dissolution =
|cadet branches =
}}

The '''Connachta''' are a group of medieval Irish [[dynasty|dynasties]] who claimed descent from the legendary [[High King of Ireland|High King]] [[Conn of the Hundred Battles|Conn Cétchathach]] (Conn of the Hundred Battles). The modern western [[Provinces of Ireland|province]] of [[Connacht]] ([[Irish language|Irish]] ''Cúige Chonnacht'', province, literally "fifth", of the Connachta) takes its name from them, although the territories of the Connachta also included at various times parts of southern and western [[Ulster]] and northern [[Leinster]]. Their traditional capital was [[Cruachan, Ireland|Cruachan]] (modern [[Rathcroghan]], [[County Roscommon]]).<ref>''The Oxford Companion to Irish History'', p. 111, Oxford University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-19-923483-3}}.</ref>

[[File:Ireland early peoples and politics.gif|thumb|Early peoples and kingdoms of Ireland, c.800]]

==Origins==
The use of the word ''cúige'', earlier ''cóiced'', literally "fifth", to denote a province indicates the existence of a pentarchy in prehistory, whose members are believed to have been population groups the Connachta,<ref>Francis J. Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', Four Courts Press, 2001, p. 86</ref> the [[Ulaid]] ([[Ulster]]) and the [[Laigin]] ([[Leinster]]), the region of Mumu ([[Munster]]), and the central [[kingdom of Mide]]. This pentarchy appears to have been broken up by the dawn of history in the early 5th century with the reduction of the Ulaid and the founding of new Connachta dynasties which expanded north and east.

Medieval Irish historical tradition traces these dynasties to the four or five sons of [[Eochaid Mugmedon]]: [[Brión mac Echach Muigmedóin|Brion]], [[Ailill mac Echach Mugmedóin|Ailill]], [[Fiachrae]], Fergus Caech (perhaps a literary addition), and [[Niall of the Nine Hostages]]. Four were ancestors of new Irish dynasties; those of Brión (the [[Uí Briúin]]), Fiachrae (the [[Uí Fiachrach]]) and Ailill (the Uí Ailello, later replaced by [[Uí Maine]]<ref>Byrne, Francis John, Irish Kings and High-Kings. Batsford, London, 1973. {{ISBN|0-7134-5882-8}}</ref>) were known as ''teóra Connachta'', or the historical '''Three Connachta''' of the province itself; that of Niall, the [[Uí Néill]], at first surpassed its parent dynasty, establishing or continuing the so-called [[High King of Ireland|High Kingship of Ireland]] at [[Hill of Tara|Tara]], and became the most powerful dynasty in Ireland down to early modern times.

However David Sproule points out that:

<blockquote>
It does not seem that the word "Connacht" can originally have meant 'the descendants of Conn'; it may have meant 'headship' or 'supremacy' from "cond" or "conn", head, and later have been interpreted as meaning "the descendants of Conn", [[Conn Cetchathach]] being derived from the word "Connacht" rather than vice versa. ... the name "Eoganacht" and "Ciannacht" were formed in imitation ...<ref>David Sproule, Origins of the Eoghnachta, ''Eiru'' 35, 1984, pp. 31–37.</ref>
</blockquote>

Sproule's [[hypothesis]] has been accepted by historians such as Paul Byrne.<ref>Paul Byrne, Ciannachta Breg before Sil nAeda Slaine, in ''Seanchas:Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of Francis John Byrne'', (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2000), pp. 121–126.</ref>

The dynasties of the [[Airgíalla]], and through them the [[Uí Maine]], while also counted as belonging to the Connachta by medieval genealogists,<ref>Byrne 2001, pp. 46, 85–86</ref><ref>Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, "Ireland, 400–800", in Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (ed.), ''A New History of Ireland'' Vol 1, 2005, pp. 182–234</ref> may not possibly be related, as some have assessed that they descend from other peoples later added to the genealogical scheme.<ref>Francis J. Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', Four Courts Press, 2001.</ref> Regardless, the connections to [[Uí Maine]] with each of the septs and their [[Máine Mór|defined ancestor]] have been maintained for well over a millennium.

==The Connachta in the Ulster Cycle==

In the sagas of the [[Ulster Cycle]], the Connachta, ruled from Cruachan by their king [[Ailill mac Máta]] and their formidable queen [[Medb]], are the enemies of the [[Ulaid]], ruled from [[Emain Macha]] (Navan Fort, [[County Armagh]]) by [[Conchobar mac Nessa]], and their wars, notably the ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]'' (cattle raid of [[Cooley peninsula|Cooley]]), are the setting for most of the stories. These sagas are traditionally set around the time of Christ, which creates an apparent anachronism: the Connachta are supposedly named after Conn Cétchathach, who in the usual chronological scheme established by the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', lived in the 2nd century AD.<ref>R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed. & trans.), ''Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part V'', Irish Texts Society, 1956, pp. 331–333</ref> Later texts used the supposedly earlier names of ''[[Cóiced Ol nEchmacht]]'' (the province of the Fir Ól nÉcmacht, an ancient people of Connacht) and ''Cóiced Genaind'' (the province of [[Genann]], a legendary king of the [[Fir Bolg]])<ref>Margaret C. Dobs (ed. & trans.), "''La Bataille de Leitir Ruibhe''", ''[[Revue Celtique]]'' 39, 1922, pp. 1–32</ref> for the western province to get around this difficulty. However, the saga tradition is older than the chronological scheme, which is an artificial attempt by Christian monks to synchronise native traditions with classical and biblical history, and it is possible that the Ulster Cycle is based on historical wars between the Ulaid and the Connachta which have been chronologically misplaced.<ref>Byrne 2001, pp. 50–51.</ref> [[Kenneth H. Jackson]] estimated that Ulster heroic saga originated in the 4th century.<ref>[[Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson]], ''The Oldest Irish Tradition: a Window on the Iron Age'', Cambridge University Press, 1964</ref>

==Connachta family tree==
{{Chart top|Genealogy of the Connachta}}
{{Tree chart/start}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | TTM |TTM=[[Tuathal Techtmar]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | FRM | | CAM |FRM=[[Fedlimid Rechtmar]]|CAM=[[Cathair Mór]]|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | |!| | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | CON |y| ETH |CON='''[[Conn Cétchathach]]'''|ETH=Eithne Táebfada|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | MLD |~| AMC |y| ACH |MLD=[[Medb Lethderg]]|AMC=[[Art mac Cuinn]]|ACH=[[Achtan]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | | | CMA |CMA=[[Cormac mac Airt]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLF |CLF=[[Cairbre Lifechair]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | FST | | | | | | | | | | | | EDL |FST=[[Fíacha Sroiptine]]|EDL=Eochaid Doimlén}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | |:|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | MDT | | | | | | | | | | | | |:|MDT=[[Muiredach Tirech]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | |:|}}
{{Tree chart | | | | MFD |y| EMM |y| CRN | | | | | | | | |:|MFD=[[Mongfind]]|EMM=[[Eochaid Mugmedon]]|CRN=[[Cairenn]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | |!| | | |`|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |:|}}
{{Tree chart | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | |!| | | |:|}}
{{Tree chart | | BRN | | FCR | | ALL | | FGS | | NNH | | AIR |BRN=[[Brión mac Echach Muigmedóin|Brión]]|FCR=[[Fiachrae]]|ALL=[[Ailill mac Echach Mugmedóin|Ailill]]|FGS=Fergus Caech|NNH=[[Niall of the Nine Hostages|Niall]]|AIR=''[[Airgíalla]]''}}
{{Tree chart | | |:| | | |:| | | |:| | | | | | | |:| | | |:|}}
{{Tree chart | | UIB | | UIF | | UIA | | | | | | UIN | | UIM |UIB=''[[Uí Briúin]]''|UIF=''[[Uí Fiachrach]]''|UIA=''Uí Ailello''|UIN=''[[Uí Néill]]''|UIM=''[[Uí Maine]]''}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

==See also==
*[[Kings of Connacht]]
*[[Síol Muireadaigh]]
*[[Cenél Conaill]]
*[[Cenél nEógain]]
*[[Irish nobility]]
*[[Irish royal families]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1b1c7 R-M222 Haplogroup Project] at [[Family Tree DNA]]
{{Uí Néill}}
{{Royal houses of Britain and Ireland}}
{{Gaels}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connachta}}
[[Category:Connachta| ]]
[[Category:Medieval Irish people]]
[[Category:Gaelic-Irish nations and dynasties]]
[[Category:Irish royal families]]
[[Category:Ulster Cycle]]