Barid (Bárith, Bar∂r)
Barid (Bárith, Bar∂r) (d. 881), Norse king of Dublin, was (although his origin is uncertain) possibly a son of Ímar (qv) (d. 873), and was certainly among the allies of Amlaíb Find (Olaf the White). According to the Irish annals, Barid had…...
Bécc Bairrche
Bécc Bairrche (d. 718), son of Blathmac and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the Dál Fiatach dynasty. One of the seven sons of Blathmac (qv) son of Máel-Cobo, who had died (670) as overking of Ulaid, Bécc owed his sobriquet to the district of…...
Blacair (Blakkr)
Blathmac
Blathmac (d. 665), son of Áed Sláine (qv) and king of Tara, was an early representative of the Uí Néill dynasty of Síl nÁedo Sláine. His father, who also reigned as king of Tara, was slain in 604. According to the genealogies, Blathmac had…...
Blathmac
Blathmac (d. 670), son of Máel-Cobo and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the Dál Fiatach dynasty. He was one of four brothers, among whom was Óengus, ancestor of the rulers of Leth Cathail (Lecale, east Co. Down). Blathmac had seven sons, the most distinguished of whom was…...
Bran
Bran (d. 838), son of Fáelán and overking of Leinster 835–8, was a member of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. He belonged in fact to the lineage of Uí Dúnchada, which had probably by this time established its base at Liamain (Newcastle Lyons, on the boundary of counties Kildare and Dublin…...
Bran Ardchenn
Bran Ardchenn (d. 795), son of Muiredach and overking of Leinster, belonged to the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Muiredach (reigned 738–60) was a strong ruler whose descendants through Bran (whose sobriquet may be rendered as ‘high head’) later formed the dynastic lineage of…...
Bran (Bróen)
Bran (Bróen) (d. 1052), son of Máel-mórda and overking of Leinster 1016–18, belonged to the Uí Fháeláin lineage of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Máel-mórda (qv), who had held the overkingship of Leinster, was slain in the battle of…...
Brandub
Brandub (d. c.605/8), son of Eochu and overking of Leinster, belonged to the dynasty of Uí Chennselaig, which in the late sixth to early seventh century contested supremacy in Leinster with the Uí Máil dynasty. Little seems to be known about his father Eochu; he may…...
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru)
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru) (d. 1014), high-king of Ireland, was born towards the middle of the tenth century. The surviving sources record the event under the year 941, but may have done so retrospectively in recognition of the fame he acquired relatively quickly in death. His epithet…...
Brión
Brión (5th cent.?), son of Eochaid (Eochu) Mugmedóin, an early figure of the Connachta and eponymous ancestor of the Uí Briúin dynasty, is represented in genealogical tradition as the eldest son of the king of Connacht and Mongfhind, his queen (Rawl. B 502, 138a; Lec. 389a;…...
Brodir (Brodar)
Brodir (Brodar) (d. 1014), viking leader and alleged slayer of Brian Bóruma, may be identified as a son of Audgisl, a jarl from the Scandinavian kingdom of York. The Irish annals place him among the prominent figures slain in the battle of Clontarf, designating him as a commander of…...
Burke, Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Brian Ballach. View the original entry....
Cairell
Cairpre
Cairpre (fl. c.501?), putatively son of Niall and king of Tara, is the eponymous ancestor of the Cenél Cairpri. He may be regarded as a proto-historical figure; quite apart from his role as a dynastic ancestor, his inclusion in the seventh-century tract ‘Baile Chuinn’…...
Cairpre (Corpre) Lifechair
Cairpre (Corpre) Lifechair , son of Cormac and putatively king of Tara, is a pseudo-historical character and an ancestor-figure of the Connachta and Uí Néill. He is represented in genealogical tradition as a son of Cormac (qv) son of Art,…...
Cano
Cano (d. 688), son of Gartnait and a contender for the kingship of Dál Riata in Scotland, was among the leading figures of the royal line of Cenél nGartnait. He is probably to be identified as a son of Gartnait son of Accidán, whose followers opposed the Dál Riata ruling lineage of…...
Cathaír Már
Cathaír Már (‘the great’), ancestor-figure of the Laigin and putatively king of Ireland, was credited in the regnal lists with a reign of fifty years. The genealogists present Fedelmid Fer Aurglas as his father, and Mairne, daughter of Morann of the Cruithni, as his principal…...
Cathal
Cathal (d. 742), son of Finguine and king of Munster, was a member of the Éoganacht Glendamnach dynasty (Rawl. B. 502, 148a 44, b1; LL, 320c 54). His father Finguine was a son of Cathal Cú cen Máthair (qv), but there is no…...
Cathal
Cathal (d. 819), son of Dúnlaing and king of Uí Chennselaig (south Leinster), belonged to the lineage of Síl Máeluidir, which gave its name to the baronies of Shelmaliere East and West, Co. Wexford. Nothing is recorded of his father Dúnlaing, although his grandfather Cú-chongelt (…...
Cathal
Cathal (d. 925), son of Conchobar and king of Connacht, belonged to the Síl Muiredaig lineage of Uí Briúin Aí, which had virtually monopolised the provincial kingship of Connacht since the second half of the eighth century. His immediate predecessors in the kingship were his…...
Cathal
Cathal (d. 1010), son of Conchobar and overking of Connacht, belonged, like his earlier namesake Cathal (qv) (d. 925), to the Síl Muiredaig lineage of Uí Briúin Aí. Indeed, repetitive name-patterns in the pedigree of this dynasty have, in the…...
Cathal Cú Cen Máthair
Cathal Cú Cen Máthair (d. 665/6), son of Cathal and king of Munster, belonged to the dynasty of Éoganacht Glendamnach (Rawl. B. 502, 148b 1, 32; LL, 320bb 56). A misplaced notice of his death at 604 (AU 603; AFM 600) led both…...
Causantín (Cusantín, Constantine)
Causantín (Cusantín, Constantine) (d. 820), son of Fergus and king of the Scots and Picts, is traced to the dynasty of Dál Riata. He was king of the Picts from 789 and held a joint kingship of the Scots and Picts from c.811, one of only three rulers to achieve that…...