Mac Shamhráin, Ailbhe

Conall Cremthainne (d. 480?), an early dynast of Uí Néill and putatively king of Uisnech, was regarded by the pre-Norman genealogists as the common ancestor of Síl nÁedo Sláine and Clann Cholmáin. Conall (also called Conall Err Breg) is included among the fourteen sons credited to…

Conall Gulban (5th cent.?), an early Uí Néill figure, is eponymous ancestor of the dynasty of Cenél Conaill. He is claimed as a son of Niall Noígiallach (qv), along with thirteen alleged brothers including…

Conchobar , son of Ness, is a fictional personality who features in the Ulster cycle as king of the Ulaid (Ulstermen). The subject of an elaborate birth-tale, he is said to have been a son of the druid Cathbad and of Ness, daughter of a fictional king named Eochaid Sálbuide. His…

Conchobar (d. 833), son of Donnchad and king of Tara, belonged to the Clann Cholmáin dynasty of the Southern Uí Néill. His father Donnchad Midi (qv) had retained the kingship of Tara till his death (797). His mother was Fuirseach,…

Conchobar (d. 973), son of Tadc and overking of Connacht, belonged to Síl Muiredaig, a lineage of the Uí Briúin Aí dynasty. His father, known as Tadc in Túir (of the tower), had held the overkingship, but died in 956 leaving a province wracked by internal strife. Supremacy…

Condal (d. 797), daughter of Murchad, was abatisa tige sruite (abbess of the house of seniors) at Kildare. She belonged to the dynasty of Uí Dúnlainge, the political interests of which were closely associated with the ecclesiastical settlement of Kildare between the seventh…

Congalach Cnogba (d. 956), son of Máel-mithig and king of Tara, belonged to Síl nÁedo Sláine, a Southern Uí Néill dynasty. His achievement is noteworthy not only in that he was the last of his dynasty to reign as overking of Uí Néill but also because he claimed sway over Leinster…

Congal Cennfhota (‘longheaded’) (d. 674), son of Dúnchad and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the dynasty of Dál Fiatach. His father and uncle, Dúnchad and Máel-Cobo, held the overkingship of Ulaid in turn, marking a revival of Dál Fiatach fortunes after the slaying in 637 of…

Congal Cennmagair (d. 710), son of Fergus Fánat and king of Tara, belonged to the dynasty of Cenél Conaill. Although his father did not, it seems, achieve political prominence, his grandfather Domnall (qv) (d. 642) son of…

Congal Cloen (Cáech) (d. 637/9), son of Scandal Sciathlethan and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the Síl Fiachnai lineage of the Dál nAraide (Cruthin) dynasty. Although misplaced in the pre-Norman genealogies (he is attached to a parallel line as a son of Scandal son of Bécc), Congal…

Conn Cétchathach (‘the hundred-battler’), pseudo-historical ancestor of the dynasties which emerged as the Connachta (including Uí Néill) and Airgialla, and forebear of all noble families of Leth Cuinn (the northern half of Ireland), was reputedly a son of Fedelmid Rechtmar son of…

Conn na mBocht (‘of the poor’) (d. 1060), almoner and hospitaller of Clonmacnoise, belonged to the hereditary ecclesiastical line of Muintir Gormáin, descended from Gormán (d. 758), abbot of Louth. Sometimes associated with Uí Chellaig Breg, a branch of the royal dynasty of Mide,…

Cormac son of Art, often viewed as the archetypal king of Tara, is conventionally associated with the Connachta/Uí Néill dynasties. Though there are strong arguments in favour of linking Cormac (sometimes dubbed Ulfota, ‘longbeard’) to an earlier tradition of Tara, by the…

Corner, Alicia (Avicia) de la (fl. 1240), founder and prioress of Lismullin, belonged to the de Angulo family of Meath and was a sister of Bishop Richard de la Corner (qv). Alicia (or Avicia) was apparently a widow when…

Corner, Richard de la (d. 1252), bishop of Meath, belonged to an aristocratic Anglo-Norman family, the main line of which, descended from Philip de Angulo (qv), included the barons of Navan. Richard was a canon of St Patrick's, Dublin…

Crimthann Cualann (d. 633), son of Áed Dibchíne and overking of Leinster, belonged to the dynasty of Uí Máil. His sobriquet associates him with Cualu, the Bray area in north Wicklow. He had at least six brothers, including Toca king of Cualu, and Rónán who was apparently a bishop.…

Cú-Chulainn is among the best-known figures of early and medieval Irish heroic literature and is the central character of ‘Táin Bó Cuailnge’ and other tales of the Ulster cycle. His exploits as leader of the Cráeb Rua (Red Branch) warrior band would make him contemporary with…

Cumin (Comyn), John (d. 1212), archbishop of Dublin and royal servant, was originally a monk of Evesham. He made himself almost indispensable as a royal clerk to Henry II (qv) and while serving as an official at the royal chancery acted as Henry's…

Cusack, Nicholas (d. 1299), bishop of Kildare, was born into an Anglo-Norman family of Meath, his forbears being among the principal feudatories of the de Feypo Manor of Skryne. Following the death on 20 April 1272 of Simon of Kilkenny, the previous bishop of Kildare, divisions…

Dagán (d. 641), founder and first abbot of Inber Doíle (Ennereilly, Co. Wicklow) and a saint in the Irish tradition, was a member of the familia of Glendalough. According to the genealogies his father was Colmad, whose ancestry is traced to the Leinster dynasty of Dál…

Daig (d. 587), son of Cairell, founder and first bishop of Inis Caín and a saint in the Irish tradition, is traced by the genealogists to the Uí Néill dynasty of Cenél nÉogain. His father is named as Cairell son of Laisre Lond, a descendant of …

Dallán Forgaill (fl. c.600), poet, church founder, and saint in the Irish tradition, is placed by the genealogists among the Uí Macc Uais. The indications are that he belonged to a subject population – perhaps the Cathraige or Mascraige. His original name is given as…

Damnait (Dympna) (6th cent.), foundress of Tech Damnatan at Sliab Betha and a saint in the Irish tradition, is associated with the minor lineage of Uí Laga, located among the Conaille, on the border of Co. Louth and Co. Monaghan. It is unclear whether she should be identified…

Daniel (d. 863), grandson of Liathaite, poet and dual abbot of Lismore and Cork, was initially, it appears, airchinnech (superior) of Lismore, in succession to Flann son of Fairchellach who died on 21 December 825. It may have been viking pressure on the ecclesiastical…

Darbiled (Derbiled, Dervilla) (fl. 575–600), anchoress and foundress of Inis Cethig on the Erris peninsula in Co. Mayo, and a saint in the Irish tradition, was – according to the metrical version of the genealogies of the saints – linked to the Connacht dynasty of Uí…