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37-545: At Mag Lena, the army of Conn, the High King of Ireland , lost to that of Mug Nuadat, the king of Munster , to whom Conn was thus forced to cede the southern half of Ireland. Thereafter the provinces of Ireland were grouped as follows: To solidify the arrangement, Conn's daughter Sadb was married to Ailill Aulom , son of Mug Nuadat. Their son was another Éogan Mór , founder of the Eóganachta dynasty which ruled Munster. Conn

74-466: A geas to never eat dog meat, and he is also bound by a geas to eat any food offered to him by a woman. When a hag offers him dog meat, he has no way to emerge from the situation unscathed; this leads to his death. In some cases, the placing of a geas can lead to tragedy even when it is not violated. Aoife imposed three geasa on Connla , her son with Cú Chulainn: he cannot turn back once he starts his journey; he must not refuse

111-471: A rí ruirech (a rí who was a provincial overking). (See Rí .) Each king ruled directly only within the bounds of his own petty kingdom and was responsible for ensuring good government by exercising fír flaithemon (rulers' truth). His responsibilities included convening its óenach (popular assembly), collecting taxes, building public works, external relations, defence, emergency legislation, law enforcement, and promulgating legal judgment. The lands in

148-404: A challenge; and he must never tell anyone his name. She then sent Connla, aged seven, to seek out his father, but he was a child of such extraordinary skill that he was seen as a threat after having defeated all Ulster heroes who met him. Because of the geas placed on him by his mother, he refuses to identify himself, which leads to his own father, Cú Chulainn, killing him in single combat using

185-418: A marriage to, or sexual relationship with, a sovereignty goddess . The High King is free from blemish, enforces symbolic buada (prerogatives) and avoids symbolic geasa ( taboos ). According to 7th- and 8th-century law tracts, a hierarchy of kingship and clientship progressed from the rí tuaithe (king of a single petty kingdom ) through the ruiri (a rí who was overking of several petty kingdoms) to

222-406: A petty kingdom were held allodially by various fine ( agnatic kingroups) of freemen. The king occupied the apex of a pyramid of clientship within the petty kingdom. This pyramid progressed from the unfree population at its base up to the heads of noble fine held in immediate clientship by the king. Thus the king was drawn from the dominant fine within the cenél (a wider kingroup encompassing

259-506: A sacred kingship was integrated with the Christian idea in the ceremony of coronation , the relationship of king to overking became one of tigerna (lord) to king and imperium ( sovereignty ) began to merge with dominium (ownership). The Church was well disposed to the idea of a strong political authority. Its clerics developed the theory of a high kingship of Ireland and wrote tracts exhorting kings to rule rather than reign. In return,

296-473: A small unconnected infraction can escalate to one's undoing. By initially making exceptions to crimes of stealing by his foster-brothers contravening fír flathemon , the king's upholding of true judgement, things proceed until they deliberately contravene a geis of Conaire's against marauding in his reign. Though he tries to rectify the situation by exiling them, his fate intervenes, so the remaining geasa are involuntarily and accidentally broken one after

333-662: Is similar to the droit du seigneur of feudal Europe. Considerable similarity exists between the Goidelic geasa and the Brythonic tynged . This is not surprising given the close origins of many of the variants of Celtic mythology . For example, the Welsh hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes (in one version of his story) was destined to die neither "during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made." He

370-473: The Gáe Bulg before recognising too late who he is. He then introduces his dying son to the men of Ulster as a fitting hero. A geas might appear beneficial by involving a prophecy that a person would die in a particular way so bizarre that they could then avoid their fate for many years. As with Conaire Mór , though, in the tale of Togail Bruidne Dá Derga , who strictly observed a number of geasa ,

407-572: The Uí Néill (encompassing descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages , such as the Cenél nEógain ), who, as kings of Tara , had been conquering petty kingdoms, expelling their rulers, and agglomerating their territories under the direct rule of their expanding kindred since the fifth century. Gaelic and foreign , pagan and Christian ideas were comingled to form a new idea of Irish kingship. The native idea of

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444-601: The Uí Néill and the kings of Ulaid, but that a king had to be whole in body appears to have been accepted at this time. The business of Irish succession is rather complicated because of the nature of kingship in Ireland before the Norman take-over of 1171 . Ireland was divided into a multiplicity of kingdoms, with some kings owing allegiance to others from time to time, and succession rules (insofar as they existed) varied. Kings were often succeeded by their sons, but often other branches of

481-586: The Viking Age , and even then not a consistent one. While the High Kings' degree of control varied, they never ruled Ireland as a politically unified state , as the High King was conceived of as an overlord exercising suzerainty over, and receiving tribute from, the independent kingdoms beneath him. Early Irish kingship was sacred in character. In some early Irish sources, High Kings can gain their power through

518-541: The paruchiae (monastic federations) of the Irish church received royal patronage in the form of shrines, building works, land, and protection. The concept of a high king was occasionally recorded in various annals, such as an entry regarding the death of Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid in 862 in the Annals of Ulster, which lists him as rí Érenn uile (king of all Ireland), a title which his successor Aed Finliath apparently never

555-549: The Caribbean: At World's End , Governor Weatherby Swann was going to stab the heart of Davy Jones , only for Jones to reveal that he cast a terrible geis upon his heart when he carved it from his body, that if someone stabs the heart then theirs will take its place. The line was cut from the film, but the geis remains in place as the curse of the Flying Dutchman . With the help of Jack Sparrow , Will Turner stabs

592-404: The agglomeration/consolidation process was complete and their provincial kingdoms divided, dismembered and transformed into fiefdoms held from (or in rebellion against) one of their number acting as king of Ireland. Geis A geis or geas (pl. geasa ) is an idiosyncratic taboo , whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or curse , yet

629-453: The arrival of Christianity is the supposed lawsuit between Congal Cáech , king of the Ulaid , and Domnall mac Áedo . Congal was supposedly blinded in one eye by Domnall's bees, from whence his byname Cáech (half-blind or squinting), this injury rendering him imperfect and unable to remain High King. The enmity between Domnall and Congal can more prosaically be laid at the door of the rivalry between

666-449: The dynasty took a turn—whether by agreement or by force of arms is rarely clear. The king-lists and other early sources reveal little about how and why a particular person became king. To add to the uncertainty, genealogies were often edited many generations later to improve an ancestor's standing within a kingdom, or to insert him into a more powerful kindred. The uncertain practices in local kingship cause similar problems when interpreting

703-467: The following century state that he died by the mythic Threefold death appropriate to a sacral king. Adomnán 's Life tells how Saint Columba forecast the same death for Áed Dub. The same Threefold Death is said in a late poem to have befallen Diarmait's predecessor, Muirchertach macc Ercae , and even the usually reliable Annals of Ulster record Muirchertach's death by drowning in a vat of wine. A second sign that sacred kingship did not disappear with

740-692: The heart and becomes the new captain of the Dutchman . Geasa are widely used in Charles Stross 's Laundry Files series, especially employed by The Laundry (Britain's secret government agency tasked with protecting the realm from supernatural threats) to enforce the loyalty and duty of its agents. Prohibitions and taboos similar to geasa are also found in more recent English literature , though they are not described as geasa in those texts. For example, in William Shakespeare 's play Macbeth ,

777-720: The high throne as any Uí Neill and... displayed an ability sadly lacking amongst most of the Uí Néill who had preceded him." Brian was killed in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Mael Sechnaill II was restored to the High Kingship but he died in 1022. From 1022 through the Norman take-over of 1171 , the High Kingship was held alongside "Kings with Opposition". Even at the time the law tracts were being written, these petty kingdoms were being swept away by newly emerging dynasties of dynamic overkings. The most successful of these early dynasties were

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814-602: The infractor will suffer dishonor or even death. Conversely, the observing of one's geas is believed to bring power. Often, women place geasa upon men; in some cases, the woman turns out to be a goddess or other sovereignty figure. The geas is often a key device in hero tales, such as that of Cú Chulainn in Irish mythology . Traditionally, the doom of heroes comes about due to their violation of their geas either by accident or by having multiple geasa , which then come into conflict. For instance, Cú Chulainn has

851-893: The names Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga originally had their literal meaning "Head Half" and "Slave Half", with the figures of Conn and Mug Nuadat created centuries later as etiological myth , elaborated by the Eóganachta to bolster their territorial claims. Their historic right to rule Leinster as part of Leath Moga was disputed by the Southern Uí Néill, while Osraighe was formally ceded to Leath Cuinn in 859. The Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111 AD created territorial dioceses in Ireland , divided into two ecclesiastical provinces , with archbishops in Armagh and in Cashel , respectively corresponding to Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga . This

888-467: The noble fine of the petty kingdom). The kings of the Ulster Cycle are kings in this sacred sense, but it is clear that the old concept of kingship coexisted alongside Christianity for several generations. Diarmait mac Cerbaill , king of Tara in the middle of the 6th century, may have been the last king to have "married" the land. Diarmait died at the hands of Áed Dub mac Suibni ; some accounts from

925-484: The northern branch ruled various kingdoms in what eventually became the province of Ulster. In 1002, the high kingship of Ireland was wrested from Mael Sechnaill II of the southern Uí Néill by Brian "Boruma" mac Cennédig of the Kingdom of Munster . Some historians have called this a "usurpation" of the throne. Others have pointed out that no one had a strict legal right to the kingship and that Brian "had as much right to

962-651: The observance of which can also bring power and blessings. It is also used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting some action. Geasa are common in Irish and Scottish folklore and mythology, as well as in modern English-language fantasy fiction. The word originates in Old Irish, also known as Old Gaelic , and retains the same form in Modern Irish ( nominative singular geis /ɟɛʃ/ , nom. plural geasa /ˈɟasˠə/ ; genitive sg. geise /ˈɟɛʃə/ , gen. pl. geas /ɟasˠ/ ). In modern Scottish Gaelic ,

999-494: The other with a sense of gathering doom that cannot be checked. In the Irish saga of Conchobar mac Nessa , the king is said to have the right to the first night with any marriageable woman and the right to sleep with the wife of anyone who hosted him. This is called the Geis of the king. Whether this right actually existed and was exercised by the Celts is not attested outside the sagas. It

1036-412: The past. John T. Koch explains: "Although the kingship of Tara was a special kingship whose occupants had aspirations towards supremacy among the kings of Ireland, in political terms it is unlikely that any king had sufficient authority to dominate the whole island before the 9th century". The concept of national kingship is first articulated in the 7th century, but only became a political reality in

1073-400: The spelling has evolved in a slightly different direction (nom. sg. geas /kʲes/ , nom. pl. geasan , gen. sg. geis or geasa ). It has also been borrowed into English in both forms (sg. geas or geis /ɡɛʃ/ or /ˈɡi.əʃ/ , pl. geasa )). A geas can be compared with a curse or paradoxically a gift. If someone under a geas violates the associated taboo,

1110-430: The succession to the high kingship. The High King of Ireland was essentially a ceremonial, pseudo-federal overlord (where his over-lordship was even recognised), who exercised actual power only within the realm of which he was actually king. In the case of the southern branch of the Uí Néill , this would have been the Kingdom of Meath (now the counties of Meath , Westmeath and part of County Dublin ). High Kings from

1147-510: The title character believes he is safe because "no man of woman born shall harm Macbeth". However, his nemesis Macduff was "from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd" (i.e., born by Caesarean section ), and was therefore not "of woman born". Another example is the Witch-King of Angmar from Tolkien's legendarium , who has a geas -like prophecy described by the Elven hero, Glorfindel : "Far off yet

Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-695: The wider dynasty, but succession was now confined to a series of father/son, brother/brother and uncle/nephew successions within a small royal fine marked by an exclusive surname. These compact families (the Uí Briain of Munster, the Meic Lochlainn of the North, the Uí Conchubhair of Connacht) intermarried and competed against each other on a national basis so that on the eve of the Anglo-Norman incursion of 1169

1221-488: Was altered when the 1152 Synod of Kells separated the provinces of Tuam and Dublin from Armagh and Cashel respectively. See Annals of Inisfallen (AI) High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( Irish : Ardrí na hÉireann [ˈaːɾˠd̪ˠˌɾˠiː n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ] ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland . The title

1258-523: Was granted. It is unclear what political reality was behind this title. By the twelfth century, the dual process of agglomeration of territory and consolidation of kingship saw the handful of remaining provincial kings abandoning the traditional royal sites for the cities, employing ministers and governors, receiving advice from an oireacht (a body of noble counsellors), presiding at reforming synods, and maintaining standing armies. Early royal succession had been by alternation between collateral branches of

1295-539: Was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to legendary figures. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken line of High Kings, ruling from the Hill of Tara over a hierarchy of lesser kings, stretching back thousands of years. Modern historians believe this scheme was crafted in the 8th century from the various genealogical traditions of powerful dynasties, and intended to justify their status by projecting it far into

1332-432: Was safe until his wife, Blodeuwedd , learning of these foretold conditions, convinced him to show her how he could theoretically be stepping out of a river onto a riverbank sheltered by a roof and put one foot on a goat, and so on, thus enabling the conditions that allowed him to be wounded. Geas , geis and derivative words and concepts have appeared in a variety of forms in popular culture. In Pirates of

1369-668: Was the ancestor of the dynasties of the Connachta (named after him and later eponymous overlords of Connacht) and their northern offshoots the Uí Néill (of whose descendants the Northern Uí Néill drove the Ulaid out of west Ulster, while the Southern Uí Néill took most of Meath). The Eóganachta's control of Leath Moga was largely confined to Munster. David Sproule of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies suggests

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