Cenél nEógain and the Donegal kingdoms, AD 800–1200

Brian Lacey

• Publisher: Four Courts Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801512466
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: History

Cené l nEó gain, a royal dynasty from Inishowen in Donegal, defeated its previously more successful opponent, Cené l Conaill – also from Donegal – at the battle of Cló itech in AD 789. All changed following that battle. From then on, the Cené l nEó gain kingdom, known as ' Ailech' , spread across Counties Derry, Tyrone (giving that territory its name), into Armagh, and dominated the whole territory of Ulster. It also attained, alternately, the higher kingship of Tara. After surnames appeared c.1000, the Mac Lochlainns and O' Neills became Cené l nEó gain' s leading families. Meanwhile, the defeated Cené l Conaill struggled to maintain some degree of prestige following the emergence of a previously minor, upstart kingdom, originally from west Donegal, the Sí l Lugdach. By c.1200 the O' Neills and the leading Sí l Lugdach family, the O' Donnells, were in position to rule the whole of Ulster until the English conquest c.1600. This book outlines in detail how that situation came about.

Table of contents

• cover
• 1/2 title
• frontespiece
• title page
• copyright page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Pedigrees and genealogical tables
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Cenél Conaill versus Cenél nEógain
• 2 Cenél nEógain: the reign of Áed Ingor
• 3 Síl Lugdach expansion and the church of Raphoe
• 4 Cenél nEógain: Niall Caille and Áed Findliath
• 5 Síl Lugdach: Dálach and Éicnechán
• 6 Cenél nEógain: Niall Glúndub and Muirchertach ‘of the leather cloaks’
• 7 Síl Lugdach: Domnall and the origins of the Uí Domnaill
• 8 Cenel Conaill: Ruairí Ua Canannáin
• 9 Cenél nEógain: Domnall ua Néill and the early O’Neills
• 10 Cenél Conaill; Uí Chanannáin versus Uí Maíloraid
• 11 Cenél nEógain: the rise and fall of the Mac Lochlainns
• 12 Síl Lugdach: the rise of Uí Domnaill
• Conclusion
• Index
• Bibliography