Oirialla

Ard-ríocht nó cúige i nÉirinn na meánaoise ab ea an tOirialla (Sean-Ghaeilge Airgíalla, Béarla Oriel) maraon le hainm na cónaidhme faoina bonn. Bhíodh naoú bhfo-ríocht sa chónaidhm, neamhspleách eatarthu féin ach gafa le chéile de bharr ardfhlaithiúnais ainmniúil tugtha do rí ruire, de ghnáth den rítheaghlach is cumhachtaí.

Ag barr a mhéide, b'ionann beagnach críocha Oiriall agus deoisí Ard Mhacha agus Clochair, ina luí le codanna de chontaetha Ard Mhacha, Mhuineachán, Lú, Fear Manach, Tír Eoghain agus Doire. Ba iad a phríomhchathair ná Ard Mhacha agus Clochar. Faightear an t-ainm fós sa bhéaloideas i n-oirdheisceart na nUladh agus Contae Lú taobh leis.

An tOirialla roimh Ionradh na Normannach

De réir an tseanchais, bunaíodh an tOirialla ag na Trí Cholla, a deirtear gur chloígh siad lár na n Ulaidh Uladh óna hUlaid féin. Tharla an bua cinntitheach ag Cath Achadh Leithdheirg, a mheastar gur tharla sé timpeall na bliana 331. Creidtear anois ámh gur ficsean é an scéal seo den chuid is mó, Ní fios dá laghad conas nó cathain a bunaíodh cónaidhm an Oirialla.

Faoi cheannas na nUlad san oirthear a cheaptar a bhíodh siad o thús, ach ón 6ú haois ar aghaidh, bhain de réir a chéile Uí Néill an Tuaiscirt ó thuaidh dá gcuid críoch, chomh maith le hUí Néill an Deiscirt ó dheas. Ón bhliain 735, thit siad faoi cheannas an Chineáil Eoghain, agus faoin mbliain 827, bhí siad ina vasáilligh.

Bhain Ríocht an Oiriall barr a réime amach sa 12ú haois faoi rí Donnchad Ua Cerbaill. Mhair ríocht laghdaithe fós i Muineachán faoi Mhic Mhathghamhna go dtí deireadh ré na nGael i nÉirinn.

Sanasaíocht

Is dócha gurb é brí le Airgíalla ná "iad a thugann gialla ar láimh". Cuireann an -t-ainm i leith idir an Ríocht Oirialla agus an cónaidhm treibheanna a chruthaigh é. I luath-lámhscríbhinní, tugadh Easpag Oirialla ar Easpag Chlochair.

Stair

Legendary origins

In the beginning of the 4th century, three warlike brothers, known as the Three Collas, made a conquest of a great part of Ulster, which they wrested from the Ulaid. It was the after the battle of Achadh Leithdheirg, fought c331, that they founded Airgialla. In this battle the forces of the Three Collas defeated the forces of Fergus Foga, king of Ulster, who was slain, and the victors burned to the ground Emain Macha, the ancient capital of Ulaid.

However, in general it can be shown that the origin legend was written (or composed) in the second quarter of the 8th century to seal their alliance with the Northern Uí Néill.Teimpléad:Attribution needed

Historical emergence

The earliest reference to the Airgíalla occurs in the Annals of Tigernach under the year 677, where the death of Dunchad mac Ultan, "Rí Oigriall", is noted. However, it is suspected of being a retrospective interpolation. On the other hand, the entry in the Annals of Ulster under the year 697 which lists Mael Fothataig mac Mael Dub as "Rex na nAirgialla" may indeed be genuine. Both Mael Fothatag and his son, Eochu Lemnae (died 704), are listed among the guarantors of the "Cáin Adomnáin" in 697. Thus it is believed that the Airgíalla were probably in existence as an entity by then, or certainly by the opening years of the 8th century.

Downfall of the Realm

Rossa Buidhe surrendered Airgíalla to Lord Deputy, John Perrot.

The Kingdom of Airgíalla came to an end in 1585 when Rossa Boy MacMahon agreed to surrender and regrant his territories to the English Crown in Ireland, with his territory becoming County Monaghan in the Tudor Kingdom of Ireland. Rossa Buidhe had ascended to the Airgíalla kingship in 1579 and found himself geopolitically in an undesirable position; wedged between an expanding Tudor kingdom and Tír Eoghain under the O'Neill. Initially, Rossa Boy made moves which suggested an alliance with Tír Eoghain, as he married the daughter of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. However, evidently hoping to be left alone to run affairs locally, while pledging allegiance to a distant monarch in Elizabeth I, the MacMahon met with John Perrot, then Lord Deputy of Ireland (according to some, a natural son of Tudor monarch Henry VIII) and agreed to join their Kingdom of Ireland. Airgíalla, now known as Monaghan, was divided into five baronies under native Gaelic chiefs, mostly from the MacMahon themselves.

This was not the end of the matter, however. Fearing the encroachment of the English, moving in closer and closer to his own territories, Hugh O'Neill turned to Brian Mac Hugh Og MacMahon of Dartree and married off another daughter to him. Brian Mac Hugh Og was then the tanist to the chieftainship of his people according to the native Brehon laws and O'Neill was hoping to bring the "phantom" Airgíalla realm back into his camp on the death of Rossa Buidhe through this pact. For his part, Ross Buidhe was trying to engineer a pro-English succession through his brother Hugh Roe MacMahon. When the new Lord Deputy, William FitzWilliam began to pressure the acceptance of an English High Sheriff of Monaghan, O'Neill used his influence to exact opposition to it from clansmen in Monaghan (the same policy was promoted in Leitrim, Fermanagh and Donegal to encircle Tyrone). As a consequence, a military force led by Henry Bagenal was sent into the county in early 1589 to impose the sheriff and by the summer of that year, Rossa Boy was dead.

Dreamanna

Seo a leanas naoi bhfo-ríochtaí an Oirialla, ainmnithe as a rítheaghlaigh:

1. Uí Tuirtri. They were based east of the Sliabh Speirín in eastern Doire agus Tír Eoghain. Ón mbliain 776, the Uí Thuirtri had moved east of the an Bhanna and into the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and faoin bhliain 919, they had lost all links to the Airgíalla.
2. Uí Maic Cairthinn. Based south of Loch Feabhail in north-western Doire.
3. Uí Fiachrach Arda Sratha. Based at Ard Sratha in modern-day Tír Eoghain. They became subject to the Cenél nEógain by the 12th-century, and expanded southwards into Fir Luírg i bhFear Manach.
4. Uí Cremthainn, based in what is now parts of modern-day Fear manach, Muineachán agus Tír Eoghain.
5. Uí Méith, based in modern-day Muineachán.
6. Ind Airthir, "na hOirthir". They were based around the city of Arts Mhacha, and held control of the offices of the church in Armagh, which had preeminence in Ireland.
7. Mugdorna, based in Muineachán, however by the 12th-century had settled the territory of Bairrche, located in southern Contae an Dúin, and named it after themselves. Both names live on: Beanna Boirche as Gaeilge, ach as Béarla, the Mourne Mountains.
8. Fir Chraíbe (Fir Craoibhe), They were located west of the River Bann in north-eastern Doire. By the 9th-century, they were a subject-people of the Cineál Eoghain.
9. Fir Lí. They were located west of the River Bann in mid-eastern Suite. By the 9th-century, they too were a subject-people of the Cineál Eoghain.

Early peoples in Ireland and the seven provinces as defined in the 11ú-century Leabhar na gCeart

Uí Moccu Úais

The Uí Tuirtri, Uí Maic Cairthinn, and Uí Fiachrach Arda Sratha, were collectively known as the Uí Moccu Úais as they claimed descent from Colla Uais. The pedigrees in the Leabhar Laighneach states that Colla Uais had two sons, Erc and Fiachra Tort. From Fiachra Tort came the Uí Tuirtri. From Erc, came Cairthend and Fiachrach, who were respectively the ancestors of the Uí Maic Cairthinn and the Uí Fiachrach Arda Sratha. The Fir Lí are also claimed as being descended from Fiachra Tort, though other sources claim they descend from another son of Colla Uais called Faradach.

The Uí Moccu Uais were also found in sa Mhí. They were known as Uí Moccu Uais Midi and Uí Moccu Uais Brega.

Féach freisin

• Ríthe an Oirialla
• Ulaid
• Ailech

Foinsí

• "Oxford Companion to Irish History" (2007). Oxford University Press. 
• "A New History of Ireland, II Medieval Ireland 1169-1534" (2008). Oxford University Press. 
• Duffy, Seán (2005). "Medieval Ireland an Encyclopedia". Routledge. 
• MacCaffrey, Wallace T (1994). "Elizabeth I: War and Politics, 1588-1603". Princeton University Press. 
• Morgan, Hiram (1999). "Tyrone's Rebellion: The Outbreak of the Nine Years War in Tudor Ireland". Boydell & Brewer. 
• Palmer, William (1994). "The Problem of Ireland in Tudor Foreign Policy, 1485-1603". Boydell & Brewer. 
• Smith, Brendan (1999). "Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland". Cambridge University Press. 
• Warner, R. (1973–1974). "The Re-Provenancing of Two Important Penannular Brooches of the Viking Period". Ulster Journal of Archaeology 36-37: 58–70. Ulster Archaeological Society. 

Naisc sheachtracha

• The Kingship and Landscape of Tara, eag. Edel Bhreathnach, 2005, ISBN 1-85182-954-7
• Early Modern Ireland
• The Three Collas
• DNA of the Three Collas
• "A Hidden Ulster" le Pádraigín Ní Ullacháin, 2003, Four Courts Press ISBN 1-85182-685-8 & ISBN 1-85182-738-2
• "Songs From A Hidden Ulster", RTÉ Raidió 1, 2006, le Pádraigín Ní Ullacháin