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27-411: The Ciannachta were a population group of early historic Ireland. They claimed descent from the legendary figure Tadc mac Céin . Modern research indicates Saint Cianán and his followers may have been the origin behind the tribal name as it is a late construction similar in form to Eóganachta and Connachta . They first appear in historical sources in the 6th century, and were found in several parts of

54-575: A number of centres in the midlands and the west of Ireland". The acquisition, by Tadc, of the territory held by his descendants in Brega is related in the possibly late-9th-century saga, Cath Crinna . The fortunes of the historical Ciannachta can to an extent be traced via the Irish annals . Ciannachta Breg occupied the coastal area between Annagassan and Dublin . They are first recorded sub anno 535 when they were defeated in battle at Luachair Mór (between

81-591: A similar taboo against eating dog-meat. Flann Mainistrech Flann was the son of Echthigern mac Óengusso, who had been lector at the monastery of Monasterboice (modern County Louth ), in Irish Mainistir Buite , whence Flann's byname, meaning "of Monasterboice". He belonged to the Ciannachta Breg , a kindred which, by the turn of the first millennium controlled Monasterboice, providing its abbots and other notables. Flann himself

108-557: A suitably named ancestor figure when they later sought to construct a new pedigree for themselves." The townland of Keenoge south of Duleek may indicate a place of origin. Cianan was regarded as a very significant figure in very early Irish Christianity, his church at Duleek traditionally stated as the first stone church in Ireland. Cianan himself is reported in the Annals of Ulster as dying in 489, four years before Saint Patrick . No life

135-560: Is ann atá primreilec Airthir Midi ocus Breaġ ), near to the townlands of Carnes. This included both síd Cerna and Cnoc Cerna , the hill of Cerna, noted in the Metrical Dindshenchus as holding the bodies of the sons and grandsons of Áed Slaine . These were located at the western end of Bellewstown ridge to the south of Duleek close to the famous Lia Ailbhe , the standing stone described as 'the chief monument of Brega' (príomh-dindgnai Maighi Bregh) in 999, when it fell and

162-460: Is extant, but various anecdotes survive, particularly in the medieval commentary on the martyrology Félire Óengusso . The territorial extent of Ciannachta Breg prior to its conquest is uncertain, but believed to have been reasonably large. Tadc mac C%C3%A9in Tadc mac Céin , in medieval Irish historical tradition, was the grandson of Ailill Aulom and Sadb , daughter of Conn Cetcathach . He

189-809: Is the putative ancestor of the Ciannachta , the Gailenga, and the Luigni. These peoples were settled, in the Middle Ages, in the Midland kingdoms of Brega and Mide , Connacht , and western Ulster . According to saga and genealogical tradition, Tadc established himself in the Midlands of Ireland after being granted territory by Cormac mac Airt , the king of Ireland (and Tadc's first cousin once removed, via Sadb), in exchange for his decisive assistance at

216-567: Is thought to be derived from the Gaulish * tazgos , meaning 'badger'. Another story about Tadc mac Céin, found in its earliest form in Sanas Cormaic , revolves around Tadc having a dietary taboo against eating badgers. As Mac an Bhaird argues, this implies that this was still how his name was understood, as traditional taboos against eating one's namesake are well-attested internationally. The hero Cú Chulainn (" Culann 's Hound") had

243-523: Is to do with stressing the " institutional longevity of a kingship in contrast with the mortality of kings. " Flann himself died on 25 November 1056, the date supplied by the Annals of Tigernach . The Annals of Ulster call him " eminent lector and master of the historical lore of Ireland ". A quatrain on Flann appears in an anonymous poem on the episcopal court of Áed úa Forréid (bishop of Armagh , 1032–1056), composed between 1032 and 1042; it provides

270-541: The -acht suffix was used to form only three population-group names in early Ireland, namely the Connachta , Eoganachta and Ciannachta. He states that, originally there was one powerful people whose name had that suffix and ... the other two names were formed and adopted in imitation of the first by peoples who wished to emulate them. The original can only have been the Connachta, whose power, position and prestige in

297-424: The kingship of Tara . Among his other poems, some apparently composed much later in his life, Mide maigen clainne Cuind , deals with Clann Cholmáin , to which Máel Sechnaill belonged, while Mugain ingen Choncraid chain and Síl nÁedo Sláine na sleg both deal with the neighbouring Uí Néill kindred of Síl nÁedo Sláine , sometime overlords over Ciannachta Breg. Flann is also attributed a series of five poems on

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324-508: The Battle of Crinna, against Fergus Dubdétach , king of the Ulaid . Tadc's role in the battle and the battle's wider context are related in the saga, Cath Crinna ('the battle of Crinna'). Another medieval text, Eachtra Thaidg Mhic Céin ('Tadg mac Céin's adventure'), narrates an earlier, fantastical expedition by Tadc to rescue his people from captivity overseas. The Old Irish name, Tadc ,

351-574: The Boyne and north of the Nanny Water, and from this point on were referred to as Ard Ciannachta, reflecting their loss of territory in south-east Brega. The area taken over became important to the Síl nÁedo Sláine and included both Duleek and the place called Cerne, Cernae or Cerna , noted as the principal burial site for the men of east Midhe and Brega ( Cernoi nominatur, al. Cernai .i. coernia daiġ

378-578: The abbacy of the same church [ Monasterboice ] in 733. Another member of the Ciannachta Breg, Ioseph ua Cernae, acceded to the abbacy of the same church in 790 ... Flann Mainistrech ... who died in 1056 is name in the Ciannachta Breg pedigree, as is his son, Echthigern ... who died in 1067. Branches of the Ciannachta included: Admitting that there are significant questions surrounding the tribal name Ciannachta, David Sproule points out that

405-415: The earliest part of the historical period are unquestionable and who loom large in prehistory as the traditional enemies of the Ulaid . It does not seem that the word "Connacht" can originally have meant 'the descendants of Conn'; it may have meant 'headship' or 'supremacy' from "cond" or "conn", head, and later have been interpreted as meaning "the descendants of Conn", Conn Cetchathach being derived from

432-440: The first of the synthetic historians; his supposed synthesis of biblical history and foreign world chronicles with Irish annals , myths, and genealogical records was to be much emulated by subsequent writers. More generally, Francis John Byrne has stated that he " ...was the leading light among the 'synthetic historians' who shaped what was to remain the official history till the seventeenth century and beyond... " and that " ...it

459-418: The indigenous Ciannachta never again attained the kingship of their own territory and their political ambitions seem to have been entirely focused on the kingdom of Fir Arda Ciannachta ... The political eclipse of Ciannachta Breg from mid-8th century onwards may have resulted in members of that dynasty transferring their ambitions to the ecclesiastical sphere where one of their kindred, Conmael ua Loichene , took

486-585: The island, including in Brega and Airgialla . The Ciannachta groups were absorbed over time. Modern descendants (mostly surnamed O'Carroll) have formed a Clan Cian society (headquartered in the United States). The Ciannachta claimed descend from Tadc mac Céin , a member of "the possibly legendary early Munster dynasty, who was said to be a grandson of Ailill Aulom . Tadc was also the putative ancestor of Luigni and Gailenga —peoples which were located in

513-653: The kings and martial history of the northern Uí Néill kingdom of Cenél nÉogain and on the legendary origins of Cenél nÉogain's fortress at Ailech . A number of Flann's poems appear in the Lebor Gabála Érenn —the Book of the Invasion of Ireland —and his works on the Tuatha Dé Danann were influential, while a couple concern world history or themes from classical literature. The most influential

540-582: The rivers Nanny and Boyne ), near Duleek , by Túathal Máelgarb . The Ciannachta kept their independence into the 9th century. A devastating seaborne attack by Ecgfrith of Northumbria in June 684, which resulted in the seizing of a large number of slaves and the sacking of many churches and monasteries in Brega, was followed in 688 by the battle of Imblech Pich (Emlach, near Kells ) an important defeat, inflicted upon them by King Niall mac Cernaigh, king of Brega . After this, they lost their independence south of

567-447: The suffix "-acht." One may surmise that an ambitious tribe (or grouping of tribes) of relatively insignificant origin based near the church of Duleek—possibly lay tenants of the monastery—decided to forge a new identity based on their adherence to the local founder. Thus they became the "Ciannachta"—'the people of St Cianan.' fortuitously, the ancestor figure of their neighbours Gailenga and Luigni—Cian mac Ailella Auluimm—would have provided

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594-588: The tradition of the Eusebius-Jerome Chronicon . Another presents lists of Irish and Scottish kings arranged to show contemporaries, which is an important source for the early history of Scotland , whether or not Flann is taken as its author. Despite its mysterious origins, the idea that Flann authored synchronistic material has had a big impact on his subsequent interpretation by scholars. For example, Eoin MacNeill considered Flann to be

621-415: The word "Connacht" rather than vice versa. ... the name "Eoganacht" and "Ciannacht" were formed in imitation ... Paul Byrne accepts this hypothesis, proposing the "conjecture that the source of the tribal name was the patron saint of the Ciannachta Breg, Cianan , the founder of Duleek . ... Cianan is, of course, a diminutive form of "Cian." Thus, the name Ciannachta may have been a combination of "Cian" and

648-444: Was Réidig dam, a Dé, do nim , a lengthy metrical history of the world kings of Eusebian tradition which appears to be related to Bede 's Chronica Maiora . During the early modern era, Flann became known as the author of a number of prose synchronistic tracts. While the tracts are authentically medieval, non-circumstantial evidence for Flann's involvement is lacking. Some of these tracts set Irish history within universal history, in

675-621: Was also fer légind (lit. 'man of textual study', i.e. lector, head of a monastic school) there, as was his father. His son, also called Echthigern (d. 1067), would become superior ( airchinnech ) of Monasterboice. Flann's earliest datable works are from the years following the battle of Clontarf (1014), when Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill of the Uí Néill resumed his reign as High King of Ireland (1014-1022). These are Ríg Themra dia tesbann tnú and Ríg Themrea toebaige íar ttain , which together comprise an Uí Néill-orientated history of

702-635: Was largely on his [Flann's] authority that the official doctrine of the monopoly of the high-kingship by the Uí Néill from the time of St Patrick to the usurpation of Brian became accepted, even by the Munster Annals of Inisfallen. " Considering his verse histories of Tara and of various Uí Néill kingdoms, Dauvit Broun has placed Flann within a central medieval historiographical movement towards promoting kingdoms over dynasties as political units; his interest in noting kings' causes of death, for instance,

729-511: Was made into four millstones by Máelaschlainn the high king". In 742 the Síl nÁedo Sláine king of North Brega, Conaing mac Amalgado , began using the title king of Ciannachta , the first of seven North Brega kings to do so. In time, the Uí Chonaing conquered and assimilated it into Brega, while retaining use of the title for themselves. Byrne remarks: Following the death of Cellach (786),

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