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49-408: The name Loígis stems from the name of the tribe's first chieftain, Laigse(a)ch, Laeighsech, or Loígsech. Historical texts render that chieftain's full name variously as Lugaid Laigsech; Lugaid Loígsech Cennmár; Lugaid Laigseach, and Laigsech Ceandmar. One nineteenth-century analysis says that Laeighsech Cenn-mor and Lugaidh Laeighsech were actually two distinct individuals, the former being the father of

98-453: A battle provoked by the Ulster poet Athirne . Mes Gedra had lost a hand in an earlier fight, so Conall fought him with one hand tucked into his belt. He won, taking his opponent's head as a trophy. When he put Mes Gedra's head on his shoulder, it straightened his neck. Conall's charioteer couldn't carry the head, so he cut out the brain and preserved it by mixing it with lime . The calcified brain

147-404: A bite out of Lugaid's side. He took both their heads, and when he took Erc's head back to Tara his sister, Achall , died of grief. Conall pursued Cet after he had made a raid on Ulster, killing twenty-seven men and taking their heads. It had snowed, so he was able to follow his trail. He caught up with him, but was reluctant to face him until his charioteer chided him for cowardice. They met at

196-401: A ford, and Conall killed Cet in a ferocious combat that left Conall near to death himself. He was found by Bélchú of Breifne , a Connachtman, who took him home, tended to his wounds, and planned to fight him when he was fit. But Bélchú soon regretted his honourable behaviour and asked his three sons to kill Conall as he lay in his sickbed. Conall overheard and forced Bélchú to take his place in

245-539: A former Lord Deputy of Ireland . Lord Deputy Chichester saw Irish Catholicism as a major threat to the Crown . He oversaw widespread persecution of Catholics, and ordered the execution of two bishops, including the aged and respected Conor O'Devany . His relations with the traditionally Catholic nobility of the Pale , in particular The 10th Baron Howth , who could be quite quarrelsome, were poor. In Lord Howth's violent feuds with

294-631: A hate-figure status among the Irish. Lord Tyrone's weakening military position forced him to abandon and destroy his capital at Dungannon . Following the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont , he succeeded The 1st Earl of Devonshire (previously known as Lord Mountjoy) as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 3 February 1605. A year later in 1606 he married Lettice Perrot, widow successively of Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire , and John Langhorne of St Brides , Pembrokeshire , and daughter of Sir John Perrot ,

343-418: A man there in an ornamented dining compartment, who was the fairest of the warriors of Ireland. A fleecy crimson cloak about him. As white as the snow one of the cheeks on him, as freckled-red as the foxglove the other cheek. One of his two eyes is as blue as a hyacinth, as black as a beetle’s back the other eye. The measure of a reaping basket his bushy tree (of) fair, very blond (hair) that is on him. It strikes

392-821: A member of the Fianna . One story recounts a tale about how Conall was present at and witnessed the Crucifixion of Jesus . Togail Bruidne Dá Derga (Recension II), ed. Eleanor Knott (1936). Togail Bruidne Da Derga . Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 8. Dublin: DIAS . ; tr. Whitley Stokes (1901–1902). "The Destruction of Dá Derga's Hostel" . Revue Celtique . 22–3 : 9–61, 165–215, 282–329, 390–437 (vol. 22), 88 (vol. 23). Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester ), of Carrickfergus in Ireland,

441-453: Is normally translated as "victorious" or "triumphant", although it is an obscure word, and some texts struggle to explain it. Alternative meanings include "angular, having corners", "swollen", or "possessing a dish or receptacle". The original form of the name "Conall" in Ogham inscriptions was Cunavalas . In the destruction of Da Derga's Hostel, Conall Cernach is described as follows: "I saw

490-433: Is on it." He was born c. 50 BC. His father was Amairgin mac Echit and his mother was Findchoem . His parents' marriage was barren, until Findchoem visited a druid and was advised to drink from a certain well. She took a drink from the well, swallowing a worm with it, and became pregnant. Findchoem's brother Cet mac Mágach , a Connachtman, protected his sister until she gave birth to a son, Conall. Druids came to initiate

539-640: The City of London Livery Companies . Chichester was instrumental in the development and expansion of Belfast , now Northern Ireland 's capital. In 1611, he built a new Belfast Castle on the site of an earlier Norman fortification, the Norman structure probably dating from the late twelfth-century or the very early thirteenth-century. In 1613, he was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as The 1st Baron Chichester . Ill health in 1614 led to his retirement and his term of office

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588-578: The Nine Years' War Chichester commanded British troops in Ulster . His tactics included a scorched earth policy. He encircled The Earl of Tyrone 's forces with garrisons, effectively starving the Earl's troops. In a 1600 letter to Cecil, he stated "a million swords will not do them so much harm as one winter's famine" . While these tactics were not initially devised by Chichester, he carried them out ruthlessly, gaining

637-731: The Body to King Henry VIII, whom he accompanied to the Field of the Cloth of Gold . After attending Exeter College , Oxford , favoured by many Devonians, Chichester commanded HMS Larke against the Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1595 he accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his last expedition to the Americas . Later in the Anglo–Spanish War , he commanded a company during the 1596 raid on Cádiz , for which he

686-646: The Dowlins". Clandeboys and Clandebojes, was a variant form of the Macavoy/McEvoy sept name. The agreement does not mention any representatives of the O'Devoy/Deevy sept. Conall Cernach Conall Cernach (modern spelling: Conall Cearnach ) is a hero of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology . He had a crooked neck and is said to have always slept with the head of a Connachtman under his knee. His epithet

735-538: The High King banished his uncle for sneaking a human head into Tara to desecrate a royal feast. Another account says that Art exiled Eochaid for killing Art's brothers, Connla and Crionna, leaving their only surviving brother with the name Art Óenfer ('Art, the Solitary'). Regardless of why he left Meath, Eochaid brought his forster son ( dalta ) Lugaidh Laeighsech into the alliance with Leinster's king, who consequently granted

784-659: The Irish Cruthin and Scottish Picts. The Loígis tribe received their territory from the king of Leinster in reward for contributing troops to expel a Munster occupation of western Leinster. A record of that campaign appears in Keating's early-seventeenth-century Foras Feasa ar Éirinn ( The History of Ireland ). Another early seventeenth-century account of the campaign is contained in McGeoghegan's translation of The Annals of Clonmacnoise . The campaign has provisionally been dated to

833-552: The Latin septem , 'seven', and argued that the number seven had particular relevance to peoples of Cruthin or Pictish origin, like the Loígis, who invariably divided their tribes into seven parts. The Loígis maintained such a seven-part division until English authorities transplanted the tribe to Kerry in 1608. The Loígis had already been identified with the number seven in a poem attributed to Mael Mura of Othain (fl. ninth century), which

882-499: The Loígis belonged to the northeastern Irish Dál nAraidi , a confederation of tribes that claimed descent from the eponymous ancestor Fiachu Araide (Fachtna Araide). The Dál nAraidi were part of the Cruthin , a people whose name is considered to be related etymologically to that of the Picts , although current scholarship questions whether there was any cultural or linguistic relationship between

931-549: The Loígis tribe the territory in western Leinster that the allies recaptured from Munster . For his own part in that campaign Eochaid similarly won for the Fothart tribe, which was named after him, territories in what are now Counties Kildare, Wicklow, and Carlow. As compensation for expelling the Munster men from Leinster, the Loígis tribe received not only the territory that came to bear their name, but also certain hereditary rights that

980-660: The Ulstermen. He helped the Connacht hero Fráech recover his abducted wife and sons and stolen cattle. They tracked them to Alba ( Scotland ), southwards through Britain , across the English Channel , through Lombardy , to the Alps , where they met an Irish girl herding sheep. She told them the land was ruled by warriors who stole cattle from far and near, and had recently brought back Fráech's cattle and family. She advised them to go to

1029-512: The bed, and when his sons arrived they killed him instead. Conall then killed the three of them and took all four heads home. After Conchobor and his son, Cormac Cond Longas , had been killed, Conall was offered the kingship of Ulster, but he refused it, putting forward instead his foster-son, Conchobar's younger son Cúscraid , who was proclaimed king. In his declining years he contracted leprosy and went to stay with Ailill and Medb of Connacht, who were best placed to look after him, since they had

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1078-507: The champion's portion at a feast held by the troublemaker Bricriu , albeit with less success. Bricriu went in turn to Conall, Lóegaire Búadach and Cú Chulainn , and promised each of them the champion's portion. When the feast started each of the three warriors' charioteers stood up and claimed the champion's portion for his master. A fight broke out between Conall, Láegare and Cú Chulainn, until King Conchobar , Fergus and Sencha intervened to separate them. Meanwhile, Bricriu went to each of

1127-407: The child into their religion, and prophesied that he would kill more than half of the men of Connacht, and that he would always have a Connachtman's head on his belt. Cet took the child, put him under his heel and tried to break his neck, but only damaged it, leaving his nephew with a crooked neck. Conall would have a fierce rivalry with his uncle for the rest of his life. He shamed Cet at a feast at

1176-645: The death of his brother, Sir John Chichester, who had been killed at the Battle of Carrickfergus the previous year. It is said that Sir John Chichester was decapitated , and his head was used as a football by the MacDonnell clan after their victory. James Sorley MacDonnell, commander of the clan's forces at the Battle of Carrickfergus, was poisoned in Dunluce Castle on the orders of Robert Cecil to placate Chichester. During

1225-495: The dispute. In every test set, Cú Chulainn came out on top, but neither Conall nor Lóegaire would accept the result. Finally, a hideous, giant churl , carrying a huge axe, appeared at Emain Macha . He challenged each of the three heroes to cut off his head, and then allow him to return the next day to cut off the hero's head. Lóegaire accepted the challenge and cut off the churl's head, and the churl picked up his head and left. He returned

1274-403: The edge of his two hips. It is as fleecy as a tufted ram. Though a sack of bountiful (?) red nuts were poured out over the top of his head, not a nut of them would fall to the ground. A goldhilted sword in his hand. A blood-red shield, dotted with rivets of white metal (tincopper alloy) between plates of gold. A long, three-ridged spear, as thick as an outer yoke (of a miller’s team?) the shaft that

1323-810: The exception of the O'Devoys or O'Deevys and the Macavoys, Chichester's 1607 report named the other five septs. In a 1608 agreement with the English, the sept leaders relinquished their hereditary landholdings in Queen's County in exchange for new grants in County Kerry. Only six groupings of families signed that agreement, namely the "Moores, the Kellies, the Lalours, the Dorans, the Clandeboys, and

1372-524: The followers of the king of Loígis, while the latter agreed to provide seven oxen and to maintain seven score of warriors to fight for the king of Leinster. English etymologists since the eighteenth century have held that the word sept , which specifically applies to the Irish clan structure, is derived from the Latin septum , meaning literally 'a hedge or fence' and figuratively 'a division'. One nineteenth-century scholar of Irish history, however, suggested that sept might alternatively have derived from

1421-559: The house of Mac Dá Thó, a hospitaller of Leinster , when the warriors of Connacht and Ulster competed for the champion's portion by boasting of their deeds. Cet reminded all comers how he had bested them in combat, including emasculating Celtchar with his spear . However, just as Cet was about to carve, Conall arrived, and his boasts topped even Cet's. Cet admitted defeat, but claimed that if his brother Anlúan were present, his feats would top even Conall's. Conall responded by tossing him Anlúan's freshly severed head. He also competed for

1470-527: The island had been inspired primarily by the seven septs of Queen's County. Among the seven, the Moore sept claimed an uninterrupted succession to the chieftainship of Loígis since the reign of Lugaidh Laeighsech, although they only assumed the surname Moore around the eleventh century. The Annals of the Four Masters record in 1018 the killing of Cernach Ua Mórdha, meaning Cernach, grandson of Mordha, from which derives

1519-463: The king of Leinster bestowed on the tribe's chieftains, who were from that point recognized as kings of Loígis ( ríg Laíchsi/ rí Laí[gh]si ) in their own right. Many of the Loígis king's rights acknowledged that there were seven Loígis of Leinster ( secht Loíchsi Lagen ). Those seven were what early seventeenth-century English records would later call the seven septs of Leix. The king of Leinster covenanted, for example, to retain in his employ seven of

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1568-473: The latter. Laeighsech Cenn-mor, who was a son of the famed Conall Cernach , would according to that account be the father of the tribe's eponymous ancestor, Lugaidh Laeighsech. A twelfth or thirteenth century gloss on the tribe's name says that Loígsech comes from lóeg secha . The word lóeg , literally 'calf or fawn', has the figurative meaning of 'favorite or darling', while secha means 'more than; above or beyond'. Before migrating to Leinster,

1617-563: The new English settler families, particularly Thomas Jones , Archbishop of Dublin , and his son, and Viscount Moore of Drogheda , Chichester invariably sided against Howth but was unable to completely break his influence as he was a favourite of King James VI and I . Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, Chichester was a leading figure during the Plantation of Ulster . Initially, he intended that

1666-412: The next day, but Lóegaire was nowhere to be seen. Conall was the next to take up the challenge, but he too did not fulfil his side of the bargain. Finally Cú Chulainn cut off the churl's head, and submitted himself to the churl's axe the following day as promised. The churl spared him, revealed himself as Cú Roí, and declared that Cú Chulainn should have the champion's portion undisputed at any feast held by

1715-468: The number of Scottish planters would be small, with native Irish landowners gaining more land. However, after O'Doherty's Rebellion in County Donegal in 1608, his plans changed and all the native lords lost their land. Most of the land was awarded to wealthy landowners from England and Scotland. However, Chichester successfully campaigned to award veterans of the Nine Years' War land as well, funded by

1764-438: The resources to satisfy his enormous appetite. Ailill was seeing another woman behind Medb's back, so Medb incited Conall to kill Ailill, something he was happy to do as Ailill had killed Fergus mac Róich . Ailill was killed on 1 May, Lá Bealtaine , which was on a Tuesday. Conall fled, but the men of Connacht pursued and killed him at a ford on the following Monday, 7 May. Both oral tradition and old textual sources place this at

1813-506: The surname O'More, or Moore. The pedigree of the kings of Loígis ( Genelach Rig Laigsi ) in the Book of Leinster says that Cernach was the son of Ceinneidigh, who was the son of Morda ["Cernaig m Ceinneidig m Morda"]. It was not until the 19th century that all of the seven Loígis septs were definitively identified with a fixed group of surnames, which were the "O'Mores, O'Kellys, O'Lalors, O'Devoys or O'Deevys, Macavoys, O'Dorans, and O'Dowlings". With

1862-489: The third century AD. Although the Loígis were originally from Ulster in the north, Lugaidh Laeighsech led his tribe into the southern conflict at the request of his foster father, Eochaid Find Fuath nAirt ('Eochaid the Fair, Art's Abhorrence'). Initially, the king of Leinster, Cu Corb, had sought military aid from Eochaid, whose nephew, Art mac Cuinn , the High King of Ireland, had shortly before exiled Eochaid. According to one source,

1911-492: The three heroes' wives - Conall's wife Lendabair, Lóegaire's wife Fedelm, and Cú Chulainn's wife Emer - and promised them precedence at the feast, and when the women approached, Conall, Lóegaire and Cú Chulainn were almost set to violence again. Emer was the first to enter, as Cú Chulainn lifted the side of the house up to let her in, tipping Bricriu into a ditch. The Ulstermen asked first Ailill and Medb , king and queen of Connacht, then Cú Roí , king of Munster , to adjudicate

1960-508: The town of Ballyconnell , County Cavan . Conall's wife was Lendabair, daughter of Eogain mac Durthacht. He also had other wives, including 1. Aifi, daughter of Bélcu Bréifne whom Conall had slain; 2. Niamh, daughter of Cealtair; 3. Feibe, daughter of Concubur and her son by Conall was Fiaca Fir Feibe; 4. Fedelm Noíchrothach , daughter of Conchobar mac Nessa . She was also the wife of Cairbre Nia Fer , whom she left to go to Conall; 5. Londcaidhe, daughter of Eatach Eachbeoil. Her son by Conall

2009-431: The woman who tended the cows, who warned them that the fort where Fráech's wife was kept was guarded by a serpent, but promised to leave the gate open for them. When they attacked the fort, the serpent leaped into Conall's belt, and did him no harm. They liberated Fráech's family, took all the cattle and treasure, and went back to Ireland the way they came. He fought Mes Gedra , king of Leinster, in single combat following

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2058-723: Was knighted . A year later he was with English forces in France fighting with King Henry IV against the Spanish in Picardy . He was wounded in the shoulder during the Siege of Amiens in September 1597 during which the city was captured from the Spanish. He was knighted by Henry for his valour. His career in Ireland began when in 1598 The 2nd Earl of Essex appointed him Governor of Carrickfergus , following

2107-557: Was Irial Glunmar. Unusually for a character from the Ulster Cycle, Conall appears in medieval Irish genealogies as the ancestor of the kings of the Dál nAraidi and the Uí Echach Cobo . The legendary High King Mal mac Rochride was also said to be descended from him. In modern Irish folklore Conall is also an occurring character. Within it he has been conflated with and is told to be

2156-489: Was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 to 1616. He was instrumental in the development and expansion of Belfast , now Northern Ireland 's capital. Several streets are named in honour of himself and his nephew and heir Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall , including Chichester Street and the adjoining Donegall Place , site of the Belfast City Hall . Arthur Chichester

2205-542: Was buried seven months later in St Nicholas' Church, Carrickfergus. The Barony of Chichester became extinct on his death but was revived the same year in favour of his younger brother Edward, who was raised to the peerage as The 1st Viscount Chichester . Edward's son was Arthur, 1st Earl of Donegall . The family's influence in Belfast is still evident. Several streets are named in its honour, including Donegall Place , site of

2254-614: Was ended in February 1616. In his final years, Lord Chichester served as an ambassador to the Habsburg Empire . In 1606 he married Lettice Perrot, widow successively of Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire , and of John Langhorne of St Brides , Pembrokeshire , and daughter of Sir John Perrot , a former Lord Deputy of Ireland . By her he had an only son who died an infant: Lord Chichester died from pleurisy in London in 1625 and

2303-429: Was later stolen by Cet and used to kill Conchobar mac Nessa . Conall and Cú Chulainn had sworn to each other that whoever was killed first, the other would avenge him before nightfall. When Lugaid mac Con Roí and Erc mac Cairpri killed Cú Chulainn, Conall pursued them. Lugaid had also lost a hand, and Conall again fought one-handed, but this time he only won when his horse Deirg nDruchtaig (Dewy or Dripping Red) took

2352-523: Was perhaps the earliest texts that mentioned the tribe. Nevertheless, no text explicitly named the seven septs before 1607, when they were identified as the "Moores and their followers, the Kellies, Lalors, Clanmelaughlins, Clandebojes, Dorans, and Dolins". That appeared in a report to the Privy Council, where Arthur Chichester (1563-1625), the Lord Deputy of Ireland, said that chronic rebellions throughout

2401-780: Was the second son of Sir John Chichester (d.1569), of Raleigh, Pilton , in North Devon, a leading member of the Devonshire gentry , a naval captain, and ardent Protestant who served as Sheriff of Devon in 1550–1551, and as Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1547, April 1554, and 1563, and as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1559. Arthur's mother was Gertrude Courtenay, a daughter of Sir William Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great", of Powderham , Devon, 6th in descent from The 2nd Earl of Devon (died 1377), MP for Devon in 1529, thrice Sheriff of Devon , in 1522, 1525–6, 1533–4, an Esquire of

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