Connachta

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 642 words | Copyright

Connachta, otherwise the Fir Ol nÉcmacht, were the inhabitants of Connacht. Their name may be derived from the Old Irish cond, ‘head’, i.e. the premier tribe of the region, although Irish tradition derives the element Conn‐ from Conn Cétchathach. Their capital was at Cruachain, the modern Rathcroghan in Co. Roscommon. Their rise as a political power is set in the 5th and 6th centuries when they came to dominate Tara. In the Ulster Cycle (see literature in irish) the Connachta are portrayed as the hereditary enemies of the Ulstermen, although they are also granted their own set of heroes.

J. P. Mallory

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