Connachta

The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles). The modern western province of Connacht (Irish Cúige Chonnacht, province, literally "fifth", of the Connachta) takes its name from them, although the territories of the Connachta also included at various times parts of southern and western Ulster and northern Leinster. Their traditional capital was Cruachan (modern Rathcroghan, County Roscommon).

Origins

The use of the word cúige, earlier cóiced, literally "fifth", to denote a province indicates the existence of a pentarchy in prehistory, whose members are believed to have been population groups the Connachta, the Ulaid (Ulster) and the Laigin (Leinster), the region of Mumu (Munster), and the central kingdom of Mide. This pentarchy appears to have been broken up by the dawn of history in the early 5th century with the reduction of the Ulaid and the founding of new Connachta dynasties which expanded north and east.