Ulaid

Ulaid

Ulaid, from whom comes the name Ulster, a dynastic group who ruled, from their capital at Emain Macha, a confederation of kingdoms once stretching as far south as the Boyne, and whose conflicts with the Connachta form the background to Táin Bó Cuailnge. About the mid‐5th century they were ousted from Emain by the Uí Néill or the Airgialla, being confined thereafter roughly to the area east of the Bann. Within the overkingdom were several distinct groupings: the Dál Riata (in the Glens of Antrim), who, by the 6th century, had extended into western Scotland; Dál nAraide (in the area around Belfast Lough); Uí Echach Coba (in what became the diocese of Dromore); and Dál Fiatach (in the diocese of Down). The latter, by the 10th century, had come to monopolize the overkingship, which was ruled at the time of the Anglo‐Norman invasion by a branch of the Dál Fiatach bearing the surname Mac Duinn Sléibe (MacDonlevy). However, the capture in 1177 of their capital, Down, by the Anglo‐Norman adventurer John de Courcy led to the demise of the Mac Duinn Sléibe family, the eventual extinction of their kingdom, and its replacement by the earldom of Ulster.

Seán Duffy

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"Ulaid." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Ulaid." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-Ulaid.html

"Ulaid." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-Ulaid.html

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Ulaid

Ulaid, Ulaidh, Ulad (gen.). A people of early Ireland who gave their name to the province of Ulster although they usually dominated only the eastern portion, with a capital at Emain Macha; at various periods their hegemony extended as far south as the Boyne and as far west as Co. Leitrim. Their power declined after the 5th century AD. The Ulaid called themselves Clanna Rudraige, a name thought to contain the particle ruad-[red].

Bibliography

See T. F. O'Rahilly , Early Irish History and Mythology (Dublin, 1946), 341–52;
Francis J. Byrne , Irish Kings and High Kings (London, 1973), 106–10.

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JAMES MacKILLOP. "Ulaid." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAMES MacKILLOP. "Ulaid." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Ulaid.html

JAMES MacKILLOP. "Ulaid." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Ulaid.html

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