Thursday 16 October: 6pm (27 University Square/01/003 (QUB) and online via Teams)

Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (Maynooth University), ‘When Ulster became Ulster and Meath became Meath: The divorce of the Northern and Southern Uí Néill in the Central Middle Ages’

Free event – all welcome!

RECORDING:

Abstract:

The Uí Néill dynasty were the most important political collective in medieval Ireland. From the very beginning of recorded history down to the seventeenth century and the end of the Gaelic order, their leading men were consistently among the most powerful on the island. They controlled both the midlands and north-west Ulster, and their literary output and propaganda promoted the notion that ‘Tara’ was a metonym for Ireland – and so, to be ‘king of Tara’ meant to be ‘king of Ireland’. The Southern and Northern branches of the dynasty alternated in this role, and while it was at times more aspirational than demonstrable, there were kings of Tara who manifested their authority across the island, convincing even their most trenchant enemies of their prestige. But the system of alternating kingship that worked so well to cement their power failed around the turn of the millennium, and by the twelfth century new identities prevailed. ‘Mide’, ‘Meath’, literally ‘Middle’ came to be seen as a province stretching from the Shannon to the sea, while an idea of a province called ‘the North’, which reached from coast to coast also began to be articulated. Ultimately, this acquired the name of an older identity, ‘Ulster’. This paper looks at the political successes and failures of the Uí Néill in the Central Middle Ages, asking how their common identity broke down and considering how new ones took their place.