high kingship

high kingship is the term used to describe the most powerful Irish kings of the pre‐ Norman period. The historical reality behind the phrase is disputed, largely because the primary texts use a variety of words and phrases and are not internally consistent. Three of the most common are ardrí (high king), rí Érenn/rex Hiberniae (king of Ireland), and rí Temro (king of Tara). Although these overlap semantically to some degree, it is helpful to consider high kingship under each heading.

Ardrí Érenn (high king of Ireland) was used by the 17th‐century historian Geoffrey Keating to refer to heads of the Uí Néill confederation. In earlier sources, ardrí could be used indescriminately for any ruler above the rank of rí túaithe (king of a tuath), whether they were Uí Néill or not. In annalistic death notices for Uí Néill leaders it is both rare and relatively late. In the original hand of the Annals of Ulster, for example, it is used only for Domnall ua Néill (d. 980), Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (d. 1022), Domnall Mac Lochlainn (d. 1121), and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn (d. 1166). An earlier form, airdrí, occurs in the 7th‐century legal tract Cáin Fuithirbe, where it refers to Lóegaire mac Néill, but this form, too, is used elsewhere simply to describe overkings. Keating's usage is, therefore, far more specific than that in pre‐Norman sources and represents a modification of an earlier, more generalized meaning.

Rí Érenn/rex Hiberniae (king of Ireland) is a title used sparingly in the original hand of the Annals of Ulster: only six times prior to the 11th century. The concept of an island‐wide overkingship, however, is well attested by the 7th century; it is associated with Lóegaire mac Néill by Patrician hagiographers, with Diarmait mac Cerbaill by Adomnán, with Conchobar mac Nessae, king of the Ulaid, in the early law tract Míadslechta, and with Cathal mac Áedo of Munster in 8th‐century regnal synchronisms. Though the majority of early sources link kingship of Ireland to an Uí Néill overlordship, it is apparent that other dynasties aspired to this honour from the beginning of the historical period. Despite this, the surviving lists of ‘kings of Ireland’, all apparently 12th century in date, limit this title entirely to the Uí Néill prior to the 11th century, a distortion that has influenced modern historical interpretations. The Míadslechta reference may cast doubt on Binchy's contention that a kingship of Ireland was unknown in early law tracts. His wider conclusion, that the title was aspirational rather than effective until the mid‐9th century, remains plausible, and has been endorsed by F. J. Byrne. Byrne further suggests that the concept was fostered by clerics from Armagh and Iona but that its realization was due to the political prowess of the Uí Néill in establishing hegemony over most of the island.

The most problematical title is rex Temoriae/rí Temro (king of Tara). The current orthodoxy, developed by Binchy and Byrne, argues that it originally designated an archaic religious monarchy, located at the pre‐Christian site of Tara and ruled by a priest‐king. It held national prestige although the exact nature of its authority is unknown. Kings of the Laigin claimed that they had occupied Tara prior to the emergence of the Uí Néill while the law tract Bechbretha claimed that Congal Cáech, overking of the Ulaid, had ruled there as late as the 7th century. The current orthodoxy sees Congal as exceptional and argues that from the days of Niall Noígiallach (early 5th century) a new genre of dynastic federation was formed, at the apex of which stood an Uí Néill king of Tara. This was originally a pagan monarchy whose inauguration rite, Feis Temro, was identified by Binchy as a primitive fertility rite culminating in the apotheosis of the sacred king; its disappearance in the mid‐6th century has been seen as marking the Christianization of the Tara monarchy. Colmán Etchingham, however, has pointed to an 8th‐century legal reference which implies rather that Feis Temro was a mark of supreme kingship, open to all contenders in the Christian era, even those of Munster. The political cohesion enjoyed by this far‐flung congeries of kindred Uí Néill dynasties was such that its kings eventually became effective rulers of Ireland, as exemplified by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid's achievement in exacting hostages from Munster in the mid‐9th century. Meanwhile, medieval literati, attempting to fill the gap separating Irish tradition from accepted world history, had developed the notion of a pseudo‐historical kingship, the list of which gradually became packed with Uí Néill ancestors. One of the most active exponents of this doctrine was Cúán ua Lothcháin, the file (poet) patronized by the Uí Néill ruler Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill.

For analytical convenience, this entry has considered three distinct designations of high kingship. It is important to reiterate that this does not reflect pre‐Norman usage. The pseudo‐historical kings of the pre‐Christian era are sometimes termed ‘kings of Tara’, sometimes called ‘kings of Ireland’, and sometimes have no title. (They are rarely, if ever, termed ardrí.) The annals differ in the titles ascribed to specific individuals and anomalies in the use of Old and Middle Irish forms imply that some at least of the designations concerned have been added retrospectively. The literary sources, many of which have been seen as representing a continuum from the archaic Indo‐European era, are now interpreted by some scholars as reflecting more closely the specific circumstances of the period in which they were composed. Difficulties in the dating of Irish linguistic forms hamper the chronological evaluation of texts, and consequently of the historical period to which they refer. Despite this, there still exists a vast potential for further investigation of Irish high kingship: the evidence of genealogies and law tracts has barely been touched upon, and even the annals still await detailed study.

Bibliography

Bhreathnach, E. , Tara: A Select Bibliography (1995)
Byrne, F. J. , Irish Kings and High‐Kings (1973)
Etchingham, C. , ‘Early Medieval Irish History’, in K. McCone and K. Simms (eds.), Progress in Medieval Irish Studies (1996)

Catherine Swift