107-622: Ulaid ( Old Irish , pronounced [ˈuləðʲ] ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish , pronounced [ˈʊlˠiː, ˈʊlˠə] ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia , which is the Latin form of Ulaid , and in Cóiced , Irish for 'the Fifth'. The king of Ulaid
214-509: A Viking settlement just north of Dublin itself. Sigtrygg's nephew, Ivar Haraldsson , plundered Rathlin Island just off the north coast of Ulaid in 1038 and again in 1045. The latter attack saw Ímar kill Ragnall Ua Eochada, the heir-apparent of Ulaid and brother of Niall mac Eochaid, along with three hundred Ulaid nobles. In retribution Niall again attacked Finn Gall. In 1087, a son of the king of Ulaid, allied with two grandsons Ragnall, attacked
321-444: A broad labial (for example, lebor /ˈLʲev u r/ "book"; domun /ˈdoṽ u n/ "world"). The phoneme /ə/ occurred in other circumstances. The occurrence of the two phonemes was generally unrelated to the nature of the corresponding Proto-Celtic vowel, which could be any monophthong: long or short. Long vowels also occur in unstressed syllables. However, they rarely reflect Proto-Celtic long vowels, which were shortened prior to
428-609: A coalition of Ulster's powers that included the king of the Cenél nEógain , Máel Sechnaill Mac Lochlainn , and the chief prelates in the province such as the archbishop of Armagh and the bishop of Down. Once again however the Normans won, capturing the clergy and many of their relics. In 1178, after John de Courcy had retired to Glenree in Machaire Conaille (another name for Conaille Muirtheimne), Mac Duinn Sléibe, along with
535-554: A combined force of native Irish, led by a king called Conchobar, and their Norse allies, led by Eyvind Urarhorn, defeated a major Viking expedition launched by the Earl of Orkney , Einar Sigurdsson , who was aiming to re-assert his father's lordship over the seaways between Ireland and Scotland. In 1022, Niall mac Eochaid, the king of Ulaid, inflicted a major defeat on Sigtrygg's Dublin fleet, decimating it and taking its crew captive. Niall followed up this victory in 1026 attacking Finn Gall,
642-429: A consonant ensures its unmutated sound. While the letter ⟨c⟩ may be voiced / ɡ / at the end of some words, but when it is written double ⟨cc⟩ it is always voiceless / k / in regularised texts; however, even final /ɡ/ was often written "cc", as in bec / becc "small, little" (Modern Irish and Scottish beag , Manx beg ). In later Irish manuscripts, lenited f and s are denoted with
749-448: A large amount of their treasure. Later that same month Ua Cerbaill along with Eochaid held a meeting with Mac Lochlainn where Eochaid requested the kingship of Ulaid in return for the hostages of all Ulaid, which included the son of every chief along with his own daughter. Eochaid also gave Mac Lochlainn a considerable amount of treasure along with the territory of Bairrche , and the townland of Saul. In turn, Mac Lochlainn swore an oath to
856-622: A people of early medieval Ireland . Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim , Down and Londonderry . They are also said to have lived in parts of Leinster and Connacht . Their name is the Irish equivalent of * Pritanī , the reconstructed native name of the Celtic Britons , and Cruthin was sometimes used to refer to the Picts , but there
963-459: A sound / h / and a letter h , there is no consistent relationship between the two. Vowel-initial words are sometimes written with an unpronounced h , especially if they are very short (the Old Irish preposition i "in" was sometimes written hi ) or if they need to be emphasised (the name of Ireland, Ériu , was sometimes written Hériu ). On the other hand, words that begin with
1070-480: Is Cruithen (modern Irish: Cruithean ). The adjectival form is Cruithnech (modern Irish: Cruithneach ), which is also used as a noun . It is thought to relate to the Irish word cruth , meaning "form, figure, shape". The name is believed to derive from *Qritani , a reconstructed Goidelic / Q-Celtic version of the Brittonic / P-Celtic *Pritani . Ancient Greek geographer Pytheas called
1177-900: Is a debate among scholars as to the relationship of the Cruthin with the Britons and Picts. The Cruthin comprised several túatha (territories), which included the Dál nAraidi of County Antrim and the Uí Echach Cobo of County Down. Early sources distinguish between the Cruthin and the Ulaid , who gave their name to the over-kingdom , although the Dál nAraidi would later claim in their genealogies to be na fír Ulaid , "the true Ulaid". The Loígis , who gave their name to County Laois in Leinster, and
SECTION 10
#17327658135401284-426: Is forebear to Modern Irish , Manx and Scottish Gaelic . Old Irish is known for having a particularly complex system of morphology and especially of allomorphy (more or less unpredictable variations in stems and suffixes in differing circumstances), as well as a complex sound system involving grammatically significant consonant mutations to the initial consonant of a word. Apparently, neither characteristic
1391-443: Is his claim that the Cruthin or Priteni were pre-Celtic as opposed to Celts themselves. However, this model has since been refuted by authors such as Kenneth H. Jackson and John T. Koch . There is a lack of archaeological evidence for O'Rahilly's theory, and it was conclusively shown to be false in the landmark 2017 publication of the "Irish DNA Atlas", which sets out in great detail the genealogical history and modern day makeup of
1498-489: Is known as Primitive Irish . Fragments of Primitive Irish, mainly personal names, are known from inscriptions on stone written in the Ogham alphabet. The inscriptions date from about the 4th to the 6th centuries. Primitive Irish appears to have been very close to Common Celtic , the ancestor of all Celtic languages , and it had a lot of the characteristics of other archaic Indo-European languages. Relatively little survives in
1605-573: Is stated that Columba needed to speak through an interpreter on his mission into Pictland (section XXXIII) (signifying that he could not understand the Pictish language), and that he brought with him two Irish Cruthin (St. Comgall and St. Canice) to translate for him. Historian Alex Woolf suggested that the Dál Riata were a part of the Cruthin and that they were descended from the Epidii . Dál Riata
1712-431: Is subject to u -affection, becoming ⟨éu⟩ or ⟨íu⟩ , while /e₁ː/ is not. A similar distinction may have existed between /o₁ː/ and /o₂ː/ , both written ⟨ó⟩ , and stemming respectively from former diphthongs (*eu, *au, *ou) and from compensatory lengthening. However, in later Old Irish both sounds appear usually as ⟨úa⟩ , sometimes as ⟨ó⟩ , and it
1819-463: Is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from c. 600 to c. 900. The main contemporary texts are dated c. 700–850; by 900 the language had already transitioned into early Middle Irish . Some Old Irish texts date from the 10th century, although these are presumably copies of texts written at an earlier time. Old Irish
1926-701: Is to these boundaries that Ulaid entered the historic period in Ireland in the 6th century, though the Dál nAraidi still held territory west of the Bann in County Londonderry. The emergence of the Dál nAraidi and Dál Fiatach dynasties may have concealed the dominance of earlier tribal groupings. By the mid-6th century, the Dál Riata possessions in Scotland came under serious threat from Bridei I , king of
2033-594: Is unclear whether /o₂ː/ existed as a separate sound any time in the Old Irish period. /ou/ existed only in early archaic Old Irish ( c. 700 or earlier); afterwards it merged into /au/ . Neither sound occurred before another consonant, and both sounds became ⟨ó⟩ in later Old Irish (often ⟨ú⟩ or ⟨u⟩ before another vowel). The late ⟨ó⟩ does not develop into ⟨úa⟩ , suggesting that ⟨áu⟩ > ⟨ó⟩ postdated ⟨ó⟩ > ⟨úa⟩ . Later Old Irish had
2140-578: The Clanna Rudraige , a late form of group name. According to historical tradition, the ruling dynasties of the Ulaid were either of the Ulaid population-group or the Cruthin . Medieval Irish genealogists traced the descent of the Ulaid from the legendary High King of Ireland , Rudraige mac Sithrigi . The Cruthin on the other hand is the Irish term for the Picts , and are stated as initially being
2247-674: The Stowe Missal date from about 900 to 1050. In addition to contemporary witnesses, the vast majority of Old Irish texts are attested in manuscripts of a variety of later dates. Manuscripts of the later Middle Irish period, such as the Lebor na hUidre and the Book of Leinster , contain texts which are thought to derive from written exemplars in Old Irish now lost and retain enough of their original form to merit classification as Old Irish. The preservation of certain linguistic forms current in
SECTION 20
#17327658135402354-559: The eclipsis consonants also denoted with a superdot: Old Irish digraphs include the lenition consonants: the eclipsis consonants: the geminatives : and the diphthongs : The following table indicates the broad pronunciation of various consonant letters in various environments: When the consonants b, d, g are eclipsed by the preceding word (always from a word-initial position), their spelling and pronunciation change to: ⟨mb⟩ / m / , ⟨nd⟩ /N/ , ⟨ng⟩ / ŋ / Generally, geminating
2461-669: The Airthir —in whose lands lay Emain Macha—were originally an Ulaid tribe before becoming one of the Airgíalla. Towards the end of the 5th century, the Ulaid sub-group Dál Riata , located in the Glens of Antrim , had started settling in modern-day Scotland , forming a cross-channel kingdom. Their first settlements were in the region of Argyll , which means "eastern province of the Gael". It
2568-489: The Celtic Britons the Pretanoí , which became Britanni in Latin. It is suggested that Cruthin was not what the people called themselves, but was what their neighbours called them . The name Cruthin survives in the placenames Duncrun ( Dún Cruithean , "fort of the Cruthin") and Drumcroon ( Droim Cruithean , "ridge of the Cruthin") in County Londonderry, and Ballycrune ( Bealach Cruithean , "pass of
2675-681: The Cruthin or Érainn , for example: Ptolemy 's Geographia , written in the 2nd century, places the Uoluntii or Voluntii in the southeast of what is now Ulster, somewhere south of the River Lagan and north of the River Boyne . To their north were the Darini and to their south were the Eblani . Muirchú 's "Life of Patrick", written in the 7th century, also says that the territory of
2782-649: The Isle of Man in a failed attempt to oust Godred Crovan , king of Dublin and the Isles . At the end of the 11th century, the Ulaid had a final revival under Donn Sléibe mac Echdacha, from whom descended the Mac Dúinn Shléibe—anglicised MacDonlevy—kings that ruled Ulaid in the 12th century, with the Dál Fiatach kingship restricted to their dynasty after 1137. They developed close ties with
2889-719: The Northern Uí Néill , promising them the territories of Ard Eólairg ( Magilligan peninsula ) and the Lee, both west of the River Bann in County Londonderry. As a result, the battle of Móin Daire Lothair (modern-day Moneymore ) was fought between them and an alliance of Cruthin kings, in which the Cruthin suffered a devastating defeat. Afterwards the Northern Uí Néill settled their Airgíalla allies in
2996-515: The Sogain of Leinster and Connacht , are also claimed as Cruthin in early Irish genealogies. By 773 AD, the annals had stopped using the term Cruthin in favour of the term Dál nAraidi, who had secured their over-kingship of the Cruthin. In medieval Irish writings, the plural form of the name is variously spelt Cruthin , Cruithin , Cruthini , Cruthni , Cruithni or Cruithini ( modern Irish : Cruithne ). The singular form
3103-692: The Three Collas invaded Ulaid, destroyed its ancient capital Emain Macha, and restricted Ulaid to the eastern part of its territory: east of the Lower Bann and Newry River . It is said that the territory the Three Collas conquered became the kingdom of Airgíalla . Another tradition that survived until the 11th century dated the fall of Emain Macha to 450 AD—within the time of Saint Patrick —which may explain why he chose Armagh, near Emain Macha, as
3210-781: The Ulothi lay between the Lagan and the Boyne. In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology —which survives in texts from the 8th century onward—the pre-historic Ulaid are said to dominate the whole north of Ireland, their southern border stretching from the River Boyne in the east to the River Drowes in the west, with their capital at Emain Macha (Navan Fort) near present-day Armagh , County Armagh . According to legend, around 331 AD
3317-858: The Würzburg Glosses (mainly) on the Pauline Epistles , the Milan Glosses on a commentary to the Psalms and the St Gall Glosses on Priscian 's Grammar. Further examples are found at Karlsruhe (Germany), Paris (France), Milan, Florence and Turin (Italy). A late 9th-century manuscript from the abbey of Reichenau , now in St. Paul in Carinthia (Austria), contains a spell and four Old Irish poems. The Liber Hymnorum and
Ulaid - Misplaced Pages Continue
3424-580: The battle of Móin Dairi Lothair (modern-day Moneymore) took place between them and an alliance of Cruthin kings, in which the Cruthin suffered a devastating defeat. Afterwards the Northern Uí Néill settled their Airgíalla allies in the Cruthin territory of Eilne , which lay between the River Bann and the River Bush. The defeated Cruthin alliance meanwhile consolidated themselves on Dál nAraidi. The Dál nAraidi king Congal Cáech took possession of
3531-551: The kingdom of the Isles . The Mac Dúinn Shléibe kings desperately maintained the independence of Ulaid from the Mac Lochlainn rulers of the Northern Uí Néill. By the beginning of the 12th century the Dál nAraidi, ruled by the Ó Loingsigh (O'Lynch), had lost control of most of Antrim to the Ua Flainn (O'Lynn) and became restricted to a stretch of land in south Antrim with their base at Mag Line (Moylinny). The Ua Flainn were
3638-468: The orthography of Old Irish is not fixed, so the following statements are to be taken as generalisations only. Individual manuscripts may vary greatly from these guidelines. The Old Irish alphabet consists of the following eighteen letters of the Latin alphabet : in addition to the five long vowels , shown by an acute accent (´): the lenited consonants denoted with a superdot (◌̇): and
3745-463: The 13th century was renamed Dún Phádraig , which became Anglicised as Downpatrick. When Ireland was being organised into a diocesan system in the 12th century, the following dioceses where created based on the territory of the main dynasties of the Ulaid: the diocese of Down, based on the territory of the Dál Fiatach, with its cathedral at Bangor, however later moved to Downpatrick by John de Courcy; and
3852-471: The 9th and 10th centuries, the Vikings had founded several bases in Ulaid, primarily at Annagassan , Carlingford Lough , Lough Neagh , and Strangford Lough . There was also a significant port at Ulfreksfjord, located at Latharna, present-day Larne, County Antrim. All but Ulfreksfjord were destroyed by the combined efforts of the Ulaid and the Northern Uí Néill, however as a result they deprived themselves of
3959-554: The Bishop of Armagh amongst other nobles for his good behaviour. Mac Lochlainn then give Bairrche to Ua Cerbaill for his part in mediating what turned out to be short-lived reconciliation. Over the following century, the Airgíallan Mughdorna would settle Bairrche, and from them derives its present-day name of Mourne. Despite his oath, Muirchertach had Eochaid seized and blinded, after which his allies abandoned him, and he
4066-530: The Continent were much less prone to the same risk because once they ceased to be understood, they were rarely consulted. The earliest Old Irish passages may be the transcripts found in the Cambrai Homily , which is thought to belong to the early 8th century. The Book of Armagh contains texts from the early 9th century. Important Continental collections of glosses from the 8th and 9th century include
4173-477: The Cruthin and Picts were the same people or were in some way linked. Professor T. F. O'Rahilly argued that the Qritani/Pritani were "the earliest inhabitants of these islands to whom a name can be assigned". Other scholars disagree. Historian Francis John Byrne notes that although in Irish both groups were called by the same name, in Latin they had different names, with Picti being reserved for
4280-404: The Cruthin are "archaeologically invisible"; there is no evidence of them being a distinct group and "there is not a single object or site that an archaeologist can declare to be distinctly Cruthin"; they further considered Adamson's claims "quite remarkable". Much of Adamson's theories are based on the historical model put forward by Irish linguist T. F. O'Rahilly in 1946. Where Adamson differs
4387-518: The Cruthin are indistinguishable from their neighbours in Ireland. The records show that the Cruthin bore Irish names, spoke Irish and followed the Irish derbfine system of inheritance rather than the matrilineal system sometimes attributed to the Picts. Possible linguistic connection between Cruthin and Picts is nevertheless mentioned in St. Andomnán's Life of St. Columba (c. 697-700 AD), in which it
Ulaid - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-475: The Cruthin king Mael Caích defeated Connad Cerr of the Dál Riata at Fid Eóin, but in 637 an alliance between Congal Cláen and Domnall Brecc of the Dál Riata was defeated, and Congal was killed, by Domnall mac Aedo of the northern Uí Néill at Mag Roth ( Moira, County Down ), establishing the supremacy of the Uí Neill in the north. In 681 another Dál nAraide king, Dúngal Eilni , and his allies were killed by
4601-587: The Cruthin territory of Eilne , which lay between the River Bann and the River Bush . The defeated Cruthin alliance meanwhile consolidated itself within the Dál nAraidi dynasty. Their most powerful historical king was Fiachnae mac Báetáin , King of Ulster and effective High King of Ireland . Under their king, Congal Cláen , they were routed by the Uí Néill at Dún Cethirnn (between Limavady and Coleraine ) in 629, although Congal survived. The same year,
4708-567: The Cruthin") and Crown Mound ( Áth Cruithean , "ford of the Cruthin") in County Down. These placenames are believed to mark the edges of Cruthin territory. By the start of the historic period in Ireland in the 6th century, the over-kingdom of Ulaid was largely confined to the east of the River Bann in north-eastern Ireland. The Cruthin still held territory west of the Bann in County Londonderry, and their emergence may have concealed
4815-399: The Dál Fiatach capital, Dún De Lethglaise ( Downpatrick ), forcing the Ulaid over-king, Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe (Rory MacDonleavy), to flee. A week later, Mac Duinn Sléibe returned with a great host from across Ulaid, and despite heavily outnumbering de Courcy's forces, were defeated. In another attempt to retake Dún De Lethglaise, Mac Duinn Sléibe followed up with an even greater force made up
4922-452: The Dál Riata. In retaliation Mac Lochlainn led a force consisting of the Northern Uí Néill and Airgíalla into Ulaid killing many and expelling Eochaid from the kingship. In September Eochaid tried to reclaim the kingship, however was expelled by his own people who feared reprisals from Mac Lochlainn, upon whose command had Eochaid confined by Ua Cerbaill. The next month Mac Lochlainn led another raid into Ulaid, receiving their hostages along with
5029-516: The Dál nAraidi, and his ally Cenn Fáelad of Ciannachta were killed at Dún Cethirinn. By the 8th century the territory of the Ulaid shrunk to east of the Bann into what is now the modern-day counties Antrim , Down and Louth . In either 732 or 735, the Ulaid suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Cenél nEógain led by Áed Allán in the battle of Fochart in Magh Muirthemne, which saw
5136-553: The Inishowen peninsula in 1197. De Courcy would style himself as princeps Ultoniae , "master of Ulster", and ruled his conquests like an independent king. The Uí Echach Coba in central and western Down however escaped conquest. In 1199 King John I of England sent Hugh de Lacy to arrest de Courcy and take his possessions. In 1205, de Lacy was made the first Earl of Ulster, founding the Earldom of Ulster , with which he continued
5243-424: The Northern Uí Néill and resulted in Dál Riata losing possession of its Scottish lands. The Annals of Ulster record that in 668, the battle of Bellum Fertsi (modern-day Belfast) took place between the Ulaid and Cruithin, both terms which then referred to the Dál Fiatach and Dál nAraide respectively. Meanwhile, the Dál nAraidi where still resisting the encroaching Northern Uí Néill and in 681, Dúngal Eilni, king of
5350-484: The Old Irish period may provide reason to assume that an Old Irish original directly or indirectly underlies the transmitted text or texts. The consonant inventory of Old Irish is shown in the chart below. The complexity of Old Irish phonology is from a four-way split of phonemes inherited from Primitive Irish, with both a fortis–lenis and a "broad–slender" ( velarised vs. palatalised ) distinction arising from historical changes. The sounds /f v θ ð x ɣ h ṽ n l r/ are
5457-473: The Old Irish period, but the short vowels changed much less. The following short vowels existed: The short diphthong ŏu likely existed very early in the Old Irish period, but merged with /u/ later on and in many instances was replaced with /o/ due to paradigmatic levelling. It is attested once in the phrase i r ou th by the prima manus of the Würzburg Glosses . /æ ~ œ/ arose from
SECTION 50
#17327658135405564-519: The Picts , resulting in them seeking the Northern Uí Néill's aid. The king of Dál Riata, Áedán mac Gabráin , had already granted the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland to the Cenél Conaill prince and saint, Columba , who in turn negotiated an alliance between the Northern Uí Néill and Dál Riata in 575 at Druim Ceit near Derry . The result of this pact was the removal of Dál Riata from Ulaid's overlordship allowing it to concentrate on extending its Scottish domain. That same year either before or after
5671-431: The Picts. Professor Dáibhí Ó Cróinín says the "notion that the Cruthin were 'Irish Picts' and were closely connected with the Picts of Scotland is quite mistaken", while Professor Kenneth H. Jackson wrote that the Cruthin "were not Picts, had no connection with the Picts, linguistic or otherwise, and are never called Picti by Irish writers". There is no archaeological evidence of a Pictish link and in archaeology
5778-456: The Ulaid in 1002 and 1005. At Craeb Telcha in 1003 the Northern Uí Néill and Ulaid fought a major battle, the Ulaid inauguration site. Here Eochaid mac Ardgail, and most of Ulaid's nobility were slaughtered, along with the Northern Uí Néill king. The result was a bloody succession war amongst the princes of the Dál Fiatach, who also had to war with the Dál nAraidi who eyed the kingship. In 1005, Brian Boru, marched north to accept submissions from
5885-461: The Ulaid were an actual branch of the Érainn. Also claimed as being related to the Ulaid are the Dáirine , another name for the Érainn royalty, both of which may have been related or derived from the Darini of Ptolemy. There is uncertainty however over the actual ancestry of the people and dynasties within the medieval over-kingdom of Ulaid. Those claimed as being descended from the Ulaid people included medieval tribes that were said to be instead of
5992-402: The Ulaid, and set-up camp at Emain Macha possibly with the intention of exploiting the symbolism it held for the Ulaid. From here, Boru marched to the Dál nAraidi capital, Ráith Mór, where he received only the submissions of their king and that of the Dál Fiatach. This however appears to have been the catalyst for a series of attacks by Flaithbertach Ua Néill , king of the Cenél nEógain, to punish
6099-427: The Ulaid. In 1006, an army led by Flaithbertach marched into Leth Cathail and killed its king, followed by the slaying of the heir of Uí Echach Cobo at Loughbrickland . The battle of Craeb Telcha resulted in the inability of the Ulaid to provide any useful aid to Boru, when in 1006 he led an army made up of men from all over Ireland in an attempt to force the submission of the Northern Uí Néill. Having marched through
6206-441: The Uí Néill in what the annals call "the burning of the kings at Dún Cethirnn". The ethnic term "Cruthin" was by this stage giving way to the dynastic name of the Dál nAraide. The Annals record a battle between the Cruthin and the Ulaid at Belfast in 668, but the last use of the term is in 773, when the death of Flathruae mac Fiachrach, " rex Cruithne ", is noted. By the twelfth century it had fallen into disuse as an ethnonym , and
6313-610: The artefacts (mostly weapons and harness pieces) have been found in the north of Ireland, suggesting 'small bands of settlers (warriors and metalworkers) arrived' from Britain in the 3rd century BC, and may have been absorbed into the Ulaid population. By the 12th century Ulaid was divided into four main dynastic sub-kingdoms, each consisting of smaller petty-kingdoms: Old Irish Old Irish , also called Old Gaelic ( Old Irish : Goídelc , Ogham script : ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; Irish : Sean-Ghaeilge ; Scottish Gaelic : Seann-Ghàidhlig ; Manx : Shenn Yernish or Shenn Ghaelg ),
6420-400: The battle of Leth Cam in 827, when they attempted to remove Airgíalla from Northern Uí Néill dominance. The Dál Fiatach may have been distracted by the presence of at least one Viking base along Strangford Lough , and by the end of the century, the Dál nAraidi had risen to dominance over them. However, this only lasted until 972, when Eochaid mac Ardgail restored Dál Fiatach's fortunes. During
6527-443: The broad lenis equivalents of broad fortis /p b t d k ɡ s m N L R/ ; likewise for the slender (palatalised) equivalents. (However, most /f fʲ/ sounds actually derive historically from /w/ , since /p/ was relatively rare in Old Irish, being a recent import from other languages such as Latin.) Some details of Old Irish phonetics are not known. /sʲ/ may have been pronounced [ɕ] or [ʃ] , as in Modern Irish. /hʲ/ may have been
SECTION 60
#17327658135406634-554: The complicated Proto-Indo-European (PIE) system of morphology. Nouns and adjectives are declined in three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter); three numbers (singular, dual, plural); and five cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, dative and genitive). Most PIE noun stem classes are maintained ( o -, yo -, ā -, yā -, i -, u -, r -, n -, s -, and consonant stems). Most of the complexities of PIE verbal conjugation are also maintained, and there are new complexities introduced by various sound changes (see below ). Old Irish
6741-429: The conquest of the Ulaid. The earldom would expand along the northern coast of Ulster all the way to the Cenél nEógain's old power-base of Inishowen . Until the end of the 13th century, the Dál Fiatach, still led by the Mac Dúinnshléibe, retained a fraction of their power being given the title of rex Hibernicorum Ulidiae , meaning "king of the Irish of Ulaid". The Gaelic title of rí Ulad , meaning "king of Ulster", upon
6848-407: The convention of Druim Ceit, the king of Dál Riata was killed in a bloody battle with the Dál nAraidi at Fid Euin. In 563, according to the Annals of Ulster, an apparent internal struggle amongst the Cruthin resulted in Báetán mac Cinn making a deal with the Northern Uí Néill, promising them the territories of Ard Eólairgg ( Magilligan peninsula ) and the Lee, both west of the River Bann. As a result,
6955-468: The deletion (syncope) of inner syllables. Rather, they originate in one of the following ways: Stress is generally on the first syllable of a word. However, in verbs it occurs on the second syllable when the first syllable is a clitic (the verbal prefix as- in as·beir /asˈberʲ/ "he says"). In such cases, the unstressed prefix is indicated in grammatical works with a following centre dot ( ⟨·⟩ ). As with most medieval languages ,
7062-450: The diocese of Connor, based on the territory of the Dál nAraidi. Around 1197 the diocese of Down was split in two with the creation of the diocese of Dromore, based on the territory of the Uí Echach Cobo , with its cathedral at Dromore. The chief churches, or more accurately monasteries, of the main sub-kingdoms of Ulaid were: Although Francis John Byrne describes the few La Tène artefacts discovered in Ireland as 'rather scanty', most of
7169-403: The dominance of earlier tribal groupings. A certain Dubsloit of the Cruthin is said to have killed the son of High King Diarmait mac Cerbaill in 555 or 558, and Diarmait himself was killed by a Cruthin over-king of Ulster, Áed Dub mac Suibni , in 565. In 563, according to the Annals of Ulster, an apparent internal struggle amongst the Cruthin resulted in Báetán mac Cinn making a deal with
7276-511: The economic advantages provided by prosperous Viking settlements. In 1000 the Viking king of Dublin , Sigtrygg Silkbeard , was expelled by Brian Boru the High King of Ireland , and was refused sanctuary by the Ulaid. Eventually Sigtrygg was forced to return to Dublin and submitted to Brian. Sigtrygg didn't forget the Ulaid's refusal, and in 1001 his fleet plundered Inis Cumhscraigh and Cill Cleithe in Dál Fiatach, taking many prisoners. Sigtrygg's forces also served in Brian's campaigns against
7383-404: The extinction of Dál Fiatach was usurped by the encroaching Ó Néills of the Cenél nEógain. Ulaid was the location where the future patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick , was held during his early captivity. It is here that he made the first Irish converts to Christianity , with the Dál Fiatach the first ruling dynasty to do so. Patrick died at Saul , and buried at Dún De Lethglaise , which in
7490-433: The following consonant (in certain clusters) or a directly following vowel in hiatus . It is generally thought that /e₁ː/ was higher than /e₂ː/ . Perhaps /e₁ː/ was [eː] while /e₂ː/ was [ɛː] . They are clearly distinguished in later Old Irish, in which /e₁ː/ becomes ⟨ía⟩ (but ⟨é⟩ before a palatal consonant). /e₂ː/ becomes ⟨é⟩ in all circumstances. Furthermore, /e₂ː/
7597-470: The following inventory of long vowels: Early Old Irish /ai/ and /oi/ merged in later Old Irish. It is unclear what the resulting sound was, as scribes continued to use both ⟨aí⟩ and ⟨oí⟩ to indicate the merged sound. The choice of /oi/ in the table above is somewhat arbitrary. The distribution of short vowels in unstressed syllables is a little complicated. All short vowels may appear in absolutely final position (at
7704-669: The former were trills while the latter were flaps . /m(ʲ)/ and /ṽ(ʲ)/ were derived from an original fortis–lenis pair. Old Irish had distinctive vowel length in both monophthongs and diphthongs . Short diphthongs were monomoraic , taking up the same amount of time as short vowels, while long diphthongs were bimoraic, the same as long vowels. (This is much like the situation in Old English but different from Ancient Greek whose shorter and longer diphthongs were bimoraic and trimoraic, respectively: /ai/ vs. /aːi/ .) The inventory of Old Irish long vowels changed significantly over
7811-428: The king of Airgíalla, Murchard Ua Cerbaill (Murrough O'Carroll), attacked the Normans, killing around 450, and suffering 100 fatalities themselves. Despite forming alliances, constant inter-warring amongst the Ulaid and against their Irish neighbours continued oblivious to the threat of the Normans. De Courcy would take advantage of this instability and over the following years, despite some setbacks, set about conquering
7918-417: The king of Ulaid, Áed Róin , decapitated. As a result, the Cenél nEógain brought Conaille Muirthemne under their suzerainty. The taking over of the Ulaid's ancestral lands by first the Northern Uí Néill and the end of their glory led to a constant antagonism between them. It was in the 8th century that the kingdom of Dál Riata was overrun by the Dál nAraidi. The Dál Fiatach dynasty held sway over Ulaid until
8025-632: The lands of the Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógain, Boru led his army across the River Bann at Fersat Camsa (Macosquin) and into Ulaid, where he accepted submissions from the Ulaid at Craeb Telcha, before marching south and through the traditional assembly place of the Conaille Muirtheimne at i n-oenach Conaille . Flaithbertach Ua Néill continued his attacks on Ulaid in 1007, attacking the Conaille Muirtheimne. In 1011,
8132-422: The letter h ⟨fh⟩ , ⟨sh⟩ , instead of using a superdot ⟨ḟ⟩ , ⟨ṡ⟩ . When initial s stemmed from Primitive Irish *sw- , its lenited version is ⟨f⟩ [ ɸ ] . The slender ( palatalised ) variants of the 13 consonants are denoted with / ʲ / marking the letter. They occur in the following environments: Although Old Irish has both
8239-564: The letter m usually becomes the nasal fricative / ṽ / , but in some cases it becomes a nasal stop, denoted as / m / . In cases in which it becomes a stop, m is often written double to avoid ambiguity. Ambiguity arises in the pronunciation of the stop consonants ( c, g, t, d, p, b ) when they follow l, n, or r : Cruthin The Cruthin ( Old Irish: [ˈkruθʲinʲ] ; Middle Irish : Cruithnig or Cruithni ; Modern Irish : Cruithne [ˈkɾˠɪ(h)nʲə] ) were
8346-594: The most powerful and numerous of the two groupings. The terms Ulaid and Cruthin in early sources referred to the Dál Fiatach and Dál nAraidi respectively, the most powerful dynasties of both groups. The general scholarly consensus since the time of Eoin MacNeill has been that the Ulaid were kin to the Érainn , or at least to their royal families, sometimes called the Clanna Dedad , and perhaps not their nebulous subject populations. T. F. O'Rahilly notably believed
8453-778: The most southerly part of Ulaid, Conaille Muirtheimne, had been conquered by Donnchad Ua Cerbaill , king of Airgíalla. The part of Muirtheimne called Cualigne was subsequently settled by the Airgíallan Uí Méith (from which Omeath derives its name). The earliest Irish land charter to survive is that of the grant in 1157 of land to the Cistercians in Newry, which lay in Uí Echach, by the High King Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn . This grant
8560-491: The neighbouring districts in Ulaid shifting the focus of power. By 1181, Mac Duinn Sléibe and Cú Mide Ua Flainn, the king of Uí Thuirtre and Fir Lí in County Antrim, had come around and served loyally as sub-kings of de Courcy. Mac Duinn Sléibe, possibly inspired by the chance to restore Ulaid to its ancient extent, may have encouraged de Courcy to campaign westwards, which saw attacks on Armagh in 1189 and then Derry and
8667-520: The overlordship of Ulaid in 626, and in 628 killed the High King of Ireland , Suibne Menn of the Northern Uí Néill in battle. In 629, Congal led the Dál nAraidi to defeat against the same foes. In an attempt to have himself installed as High King of Ireland , Congal made alliances with Dál Riata and Strathclyde , which resulted in the disastrous Battle of Moira in 637, in modern-day County Down, which saw Congal slain by High King Domnall mac Áedo of
8774-461: The ruling dynasty had no links to that figure, and this was the case with the Ulaid. Ulaid was also known as Cóiced Ulad , the "Fifth of Ulster", and was one of the legendary five provinces of Ireland. After the subsequent loss of territory to the Airgíalla and Northern Uí Néill , the eastern remnant of the province that formed medieval Ulaid was alternatively known as in Cóiced , in reference to
8881-586: The ruling sept of the Airgíallan Uí Thuirtre as well as rulers of Fir Lí, both of which lay west of the River Bann. In a process of gradual infiltration by marital and military alliances as well as growing pressure from the encroaching Cenél nEógain, they moved their power east of the Bann. Once they had come to prominence in Antrim the Ua Flainn styled themselves as king of Dál nAraidi, Dál Riata, and Fir Lí, alongside their own Uí Thuirtre. By 1130,
8988-603: The same sound as /h/ or /xʲ/ . The precise articulation of the fortis sonorants /N/, /Nʲ/, /L/, /Lʲ/, /R/, /Rʲ/ is unknown, but they were probably longer, tenser and generally more strongly articulated than their lenis counterparts /n/, /nʲ/, /l/, /lʲ/, /r/, /rʲ/ , as in the Modern Irish and Scottish dialects that still possess a four-way distinction in the coronal nasals and laterals . /Nʲ/ and /Lʲ/ may have been pronounced [ɲ] and [ʎ] respectively. The difference between /R(ʲ)/ and /r(ʲ)/ may have been that
9095-500: The same year Boru finally achieved hegemony over the entire of Ireland, Flaithbertach launched an invasion of Ulaid, and after destroying Dún Echdach (Duneight, south of Lisburn) and the surrounding settlement, took the submission of the Dál Fiatach, who had the Ulaid kingship, thus removing them from Boru's over-lordship. The next year, Flaithbertach raided the Ards peninsula and took an uncountable number of spoils. At Ulfreksfjord in 1018,
9202-468: The site of his episcopacy, as it would then still be under Ulaid control. It may also explain why he was buried in eastern Ulster in the restricted territory of the Ulaid rather than at Armagh, as it had by then come under Airgíallan control. It is likely that the Airgíalla were not settlers in Ulaid territory, but indigenous tribes; most of whom were vassals of the Ulaid before casting off Ulaid overlordship and becoming independent. It has been suggested that
9309-408: The sound /h/ are usually written without it: a ór /a hoːr/ "her gold". If the sound and the spelling co-occur , it is by coincidence, as ní hed /Nʲiː heð/ "it is not". The voiceless stops of Old Irish are c, p, t . They contrast with the voiced stops g, b, d . Additionally, the letter m can behave similarly to a stop following vowels. These seven consonants often mutate when not in
9416-801: The story of the Táin Bó Cúailnge as representing this; and argues that most of the Cruthin were driven to Scotland after the Battle of Moira (637), only for their descendants to return 1,000 years later in the Plantation of Ulster . Adamson suggests that the Gaelic Irish are not really native to Ulster and that the Ulster Scots have merely returned to their ancient lands. His theory has been adopted by some Ulster loyalists and Ulster Scots activists to counter Irish nationalism , and
9523-513: The stressed prefix air- (from Proto-Celtic *ɸare ). Archaic Old Irish (before about 750) had the following inventory of long vowels: Both /e₁ː/ and /e₂ː/ were normally written ⟨é⟩ but must have been pronounced differently because they have different origins and distinct outcomes in later Old Irish. /e₁ː/ stems from Proto-Celtic *ē (< PIE *ei), or from ē in words borrowed from Latin. /e₂ː/ generally stems from compensatory lengthening of short *e because of loss of
9630-634: The terms Ulidian and Ultonian . The Irish word for someone from Ulaid is Ultach (also spelt as Ultaigh and Ultagh ), which in Latin became Ultonii and Ultoniensis . Ulaid gave its name to the province of Ulster, though the exact composition of it is disputed: it may derive from Ulaidh with or without the Norse genitive s and Irish tír ("land, country, earth"), or else the second element may be Norse -ster (meaning "place", common in Shetland and Norway). The Ulaid are also referred to as being of
9737-518: The u-infection of stressed /a/ by a /u/ that preceded a palatalized consonant. This vowel faced much inconsistency in spelling, often detectable by a word containing it being variably spelled with ⟨au, ai, e, i, u⟩ across attestations. Tulach "hill, mound" is the most commonly cited example of this vowel, with the spelling of its inflections including tulach itself, telaig , telocho , tilchaib , taulich and tailaig . This special vowel also ran rampant in many words starting with
9844-660: The unconquered part of Cóiced Ulad . The Ulaid are likely the Ούολουντιοι ( Uoluntii or Voluntii ) mentioned in Ptolemy 's 2nd century Geographia . This may be a corruption of Ούλουτοι ( Uluti ). The name is likely derived from the Gaelic ul , meaning " beard ". The late 7th-century writer, Muirchú, spells Ulaid as Ulothi in his work the Life of Patrick . Ulaid has historically been anglicised as Ulagh or Ullagh and Latinized as Ulidia or Ultonia . The latter two have yielded
9951-431: The very end of a word) after both broad and slender consonants. The front vowels /e/ and /i/ are often spelled ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨ai⟩ after broad consonants, which might indicate a retracted pronunciation here, perhaps something like [ɘ] and [ɨ] . All ten possibilities are shown in the following examples: The distribution of short vowels in unstressed syllables, other than when absolutely final,
10058-507: The way of strictly contemporary sources. They are represented mainly by shorter or longer glosses on the margins or between the lines of religious Latin manuscripts , most of them preserved in monasteries in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and Austria, having been taken there by early Irish missionaries . Whereas in Ireland, many of the older manuscripts appear to have been worn out through extended and heavy use, their counterparts on
10165-567: The word-initial position. In non-initial positions, the single-letter voiceless stops c, p, and t become the voiced stops / ɡ / , / b / , and / d / respectively unless they are written double. Ambiguity in these letters' pronunciations arises when a single consonant follows an l, n, or r . The lenited stops ch, ph, and th become / x / , / f / , and / θ / respectively. The voiced stops b, d, and g become fricative / v / , / ð / , and / ɣ / , respectively—identical sounds to their word-initial lenitions. In non-initial positions,
10272-466: Was a Gaelic kingdom that included parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ireland. The Irish part of the kingdom was surrounded by Cruthin territory. In the 1970s, Unionist politician Ian Adamson proposed that the Cruthin were a British people who spoke a non-Celtic language and were the original inhabitants of Ulster. He argues that they were at war with the Irish Gaels for centuries, seeing
10379-517: Was called the rí Ulad or rí in Chóicid . Ulaid also refers to a people of early Ireland, and it is from them that the province of Ulster derives its name. Some of the dynasties in the over-kingdom claimed descent from the Ulaid, but others are cited as being of Cruithin descent. In historical documents, the term Ulaid was used to refer to the population group of which the Dál Fiatach
10486-575: Was made with the consent of the king of Ulaid, Cú Ulad Mac Dúinn Sléibe, and the king of Uí Echach, Domnall Ua hÁeda. The Annals of Ulster record that in April 1165 , the Ulaid, ruled by Eochaidh Mac Dúinn Sléibe, turned against Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, and attacked the Uí Méith as well as the Uí Breasail in modern barony Oneilland East , County Armagh (which was also formerly part of Ulaid), and
10593-519: Was present in the preceding Primitive Irish period, though initial mutations likely existed in a non-grammaticalised form in the prehistoric era. Contemporary Old Irish scholarship is still greatly influenced by the works of a small number of scholars active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rudolf Thurneysen (1857–1940) and Osborn Bergin (1873–1950). Notable characteristics of Old Irish compared with other old Indo-European languages , are: Old Irish also preserves most aspects of
10700-690: Was promoted by elements in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). They saw this new 'origin myth' as "a justification for their presence in Ireland and for partition of the country". Historians, archaeologists and anthropologists have widely rejected Adamson's theory. Prof. Stephen Howe of the University of Bristol argues it was designed to provide ancient underpinnings for a militantly separate Ulster identity. Historian Peter Berresford Ellis likens it to Zionism . Archaeologists such as J. P. Mallory and T. E. McNeil note that
10807-488: Was quite restricted. It is usually thought that there were only two allowed phonemes: /ə/ (written ⟨a, ai, e, i⟩ depending on the quality of surrounding consonants) and /u/ (written ⟨u⟩ or ⟨o⟩ ). The phoneme /u/ tended to occur when the following syllable contained an *ū in Proto-Celtic (for example, dligud /ˈdʲlʲiɣ u ð/ "law" (dat.) < PC * dligedū ), or after
10914-533: Was reduced to a handful of followers. With sixteen of these closest associates, he was killed in 1166 . In 1170 Eochaid's brother Magnus who had become king of Ulaid expelled the Augustinian canons from Saul . Despite the turmoil amongst the Ulaid, they continued to survive but not for much longer. In 1177 Ulaid was invaded by the Normans led by John de Courcy , who in a surprise attack captured and held
11021-518: Was remembered only as an alternative name for the Dál nAraide. The Pictish Chronicle names the first king of the Picts as the eponymous " Cruidne filius Cinge ". Early Irish writers used the name Cruthin to refer to both the north-eastern Irish group and to the Picts of Scotland. Likewise, the Scottish Gaelic word for a Pict is Cruithen or Cruithneach , and Pictland is Cruithentúath . It has thus been suggested that
11128-550: Was replaced with the Earldom of Ulster . An individual from Ulaid was known in Irish as an Ultach , the nominative plural being Ultaigh . This name lives on in the surname McAnulty or McNulty , from mac an Ultaigh ('son of the Ulsterman'). Ulaid is a plural noun and originated as an ethnonym ; however, Irish nomenclature followed a pattern where the names of population groups and apical ancestor figures became more and more associated with geographical areas even when
11235-551: Was said to stretch from the River Drowes in the west to the River Boyne in the east. At the onset of the historic period of Irish history in the 6th century, the territory of Ulaid was largely confined to east of the River Bann , as it is said to have lost land to the Airgíalla and the Northern Uí Néill . Ulaid ceased to exist after its conquest in the late 12th century by the Anglo-Norman knight John de Courcy , and
11342-574: Was the only known member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages , which is, in turn, a subfamily of the wider Indo-European language family that also includes the Slavonic , Italic / Romance , Indo-Aryan and Germanic subfamilies, along with several others. Old Irish is the ancestor of all modern Goidelic languages: Modern Irish , Scottish Gaelic and Manx . A still older form of Irish
11449-536: Was the ruling dynasty. As such, the title rí Ulad held two meanings: over-king of the Kingdom of Ulaid and king of the Ulaid people, as in the Dál Fiatach . The Ulaid feature prominently in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology . According to legend, the ancient territory of Ulaid spanned the whole of the modern province of Ulster , excluding County Cavan , but including County Louth . Its southern border
#539460