Tír Eógain

Who rules

Name

Aed Meith Ua Neill

Title

King of Tir Eogain

Since

Probably 1196

Born

Not pinned

Family

Wife Bean Mide, daughter of Ua hEignigh (married about 1199-1200); son Domnall Og.

Confidence

high

See Tir Eogain (Ua Neill).

Overlord

None in fact

The realm that morning

Aed Ua Neill is king after beating de Courcy at Donaghmore in 1199 and humbling Cenel Conaill and Ua hEignigh; the Meic Lochlainn party waits for its chance.

Threats

• De Courcy
• The Meic Lochlainn
• Cenel Conaill

Officers in 1200

• Sub-lords: Ua Cathain of Ciannachta, the Ui Floinn of Ui Thuirtre east of the Bann (squeezed by de Courcy), the church of Derry and its erenaghs

Coinage

None: the Irish kingdoms strike no coin; wealth and tribute are counted in cattle, and silver comes through the ports.

Rome and the Church

Armagh, the primatial see, lies on the borders of Tir Eogain and Airgialla; its archbishop Tomaltach Ua Conchobair is a Connacht prince. Derry is the chief Columban church of the north.

The host

The Cenel nEogain hosting and a fleet (five ships at Larne in 1199). No figures.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1201 (later course)Aed's Connacht expedition fails at Ballysadare; he is deposed for Conchobar Bec Mac Lochlainn, who is killed by Cenel Conaill, and returns.Depends on: The Connacht expedition Stopped by: Staying home

Where the sources disagree

• The Four Masters place Aed's deposition in 1200; we follow the later dating (1201).

Evidence: Annals and the DIB-based account.

On the map: Drawn through the king's and sub-kings' lord records.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Loch Ce, Various (compiled for the Mac Diarmada of Moylurg) (compiled 1580s from older annals; the medieval section rests on a Connacht chronicle). The fullest Connacht account of the year: Cathal Carrach's seizure of the kingship, Cathal Crobderg's flight north, the Connacht expedition of de Courcy and the Ui Neill on Crobderg's behalf and its defeat, William de Burgh's role, and the devastation of the province's churches, with the names of the Connacht nobles and clergy who died. Read online
• Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, Various; compiled by Micheal O Cleirigh and others (1632 to 1636, from medieval annals now partly lost). A seventeenth century compilation but it draws on lost medieval annals, so its 1200 entries add names and incidents missing elsewhere: the Connacht war and the English of Meath and Munster, the deaths of Irish kings and churchmen across the island, and raids in Thomond and Desmond. Read online
• Annals of Ulster, Various; compiled by Cathal Mac Maghnusa (compiled about 1498 from much older annals; the entries for 1200 derive from contemporary record). The most reliable Irish annal for the north. Read online
• The Topography of Ireland; The Conquest of Ireland, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) (Topographia 1187 to 1188; Expugnatio 1189, revised later). The Conquest ends in 1185 and the Topography describes the island as Gerald saw it in 1183 to 1185, so neither covers 1200, but they explain the lordship of Ireland as John found it: the grants of Leinster and Meath, the de Courcy conquest of Ulster, the Irish kings and their customs, and Gerald's advice on governing the country. Read online