Uí Mhaine through time

The twelve stops

1. Teacht Mháine Mhóir · Máine Mór comes west (c. 500)

   The kingdom's own story tells of Máine Mór leading his people west to settle beyond the Shannon, and of a victory at Claenloch that secured the land. This is told as tradition, not record.

   Reference: Origin tradition (Curley; O'Donovan 1843). Claenloch 538 per later tradition · Date: c. 500 · Evidence: local tradition · Status: tradition · Map: claimed

2. Na craobhacha ríoga · The ruling lines settle (c. 800)

   Several branches of the dynasty share and contest the kingship, and the kingdom takes shape across the Suck valley.

   Reference: King-lists for Uí Maine (Curley ch.2) · Date: c. 800 · Evidence: later source · Status: needs source · Map: claimed

3. Bás Mhurchadha · Murchad, king of Uí Maine (960 (AFM) / 962 (AI))

   The annals record the death of Murchad son of Áed, king of Uí Maine. In this era the ruling line came to be known as Uí Chellaig, after an earlier king named Cellach.

   Reference: Annals of Inisfallen AI962.3; AFM M960 (year) · Date: 960 (AFM) / 962 (AI) · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: pinned · Map: interpretation

4. Tadhg Mór i gCluain Tarbh · Tadg Mór at Clontarf (1014)

   Tadg Mór Ua Cellaig fights beside Brian Bórama at Clontarf and is remembered among the fallen, a proud memory for the family.

   Reference: Annals of Inisfallen AI1014.2 · Date: 1014 · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: pinned · Map: interpretation

5. Tochailt na Suca · The Suck is dug (1139)

   The Annals of Tigernach record that Toirrdelbach Ó Conchobair, king of Connacht, had the river Suck dug out by a great muster of Connacht men, so that it flooded two marshes into lakes on its way to Lough Ree. In the same year he built bridges at Athlone and at Dún Leodha (Ballinasloe) on the Suck.

   Reference: Annals of Tigernach T1139.4 (the Suck dug by Toirrdelbach); AFM M1139 (bridges at Athlone and Dún Leodha on the Suck) · Date: 1139 · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: pinned · Map: interpretation

6. Teampall Uí Cheallaigh · A church at Clonmacnoise (1167)

   Conchobar Ua Ceallaigh and the people of Uí Maine build a church at Clonmacnoise, still remembered as O'Kelly's Church: a sign of the kingdom's close ties to the great monastery across the Shannon.

   Reference: Annals of the Four Masters M1167 (church at Clonmacnoise by Conchobar Ua Ceallaigh) · Date: 1167 · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: annal identified, entry not pinned · Map: interpretation

7. Tadhg ag Baile Átha an Rí · Tadg at Athenry (1316)

   On 10 August 1316 Tadg Ó Ceallaigh, king of Uí Maine, falls at Athenry with many of his kin. The annals remember him as the man the Gaels hoped most from in his time. The lordship regroups around its core.

   Reference: Annals of the Four Masters M1316; Annals of Connacht 1316 · Date: 1316 · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: annal identified, entry not pinned · Map: core sites attested · outline sketched

8. Nollaig na nÉigeas · The great Christmas feast (1351)

   Uilliam Buide Ó Ceallaigh welcomes the poets, judges, historians and musicians of Ireland for Christmas. The feast is held at An Dún, Doon Fort, a hall of stone and timber raised for the occasion above Loch na nÉigeas, in the court landscape around the pailís at Lios Mór, Pallas. Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh praises it in verse.

   Reference: FitzPatrick, Landscapes of the Learned (2023), pp. 147–149 (feast site identified as Doon Fort, Doon Upper, in her 2016 field survey; pailís at Lios Mór, Pallas); poem: Knott, Ériu 5 (1911) 50–69, esp. 60–61; Bardic Poetry Database poem 932 · Date: 1351 · Evidence: contemporary record (poem); scholarly interpretation (location) · Status: pinned · Map: core sites attested · outline sketched

   Confidence: scholarly identification (FitzPatrick 2016 field survey, published 2023) · Alternatives: Galey and Castle Blakeney proposed; FitzPatrick favours Doon · Basis: FitzPatrick, Landscapes of the Learned (2023), pp. 147–149

9. Mainistir Chill Chonaill · Kilconnell Friary (1353)

   Uilliam founds a Franciscan friary at Kilconnell, a stone centre of learning and prayer at the heart of the lordship.

   Reference: Annals of the Four Masters M1353.7 · Date: 1353 · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: pinned · Map: core sites attested · outline sketched

10. Uí Mhaine ina buaic · Widest extent (c. 1400)

    Around 1380 to 1420 the lordship is at its broadest, from Athlone and Roscommon to Abbeyknockmoy and Tiaquin, with Ballinasloe and Tycooly (Ticooly) inside it. The solid core is well attested; the hatched outer band is the claimed reach.

    Reference: Curley 2022, PhD thesis (widest extent c. 1380–1420; c. 1,706 km²) · Date: c. 1400 · Evidence: later source · Status: needs source · Map: claimed, core sites attested · outline sketched

11. Cnoc Tuagh · Knockdoe (1504)

    A great battle near Knockdoe draws in lords from across Connacht and beyond, with Ó Ceallaigh at its heart.

    Reference: Annals of the Four Masters M1504.13–14 · Date: 1504 · Evidence: contemporary record · Status: pinned · Map: interpretation

12. Deireadh ré · The lordship ends (1590s–1600s)

    The lordship of Uí Mhaine ended with the Tudor changes of the late 1500s and the land settlements of the early 1600s. Its names, townlands, poems and stones remain, and that is what this site celebrates.

    Reference: Curley 2022, PhD thesis (closing period) · Date: 1590s–1600s · Evidence: later source · Status: needs source · Map: core sites attested · outline sketched

The poets' route

Reconstructed from local telling; not a contemporary itinerary. Stops are approximate.

1. Ballinasloe, heading west along the Eiscir Riada (exact line provisional).
2. Kilconnell, where the route turns north (by Callow Lough).
3. Doon Fort (An Dún), the feast hall above Loch na nÉigeas (Boggaun Lough): journey's end. The pailís at Lios Mór, Pallas, lies just north.

The Turoe Stone lies to the south-west, on the left; Gallagh and Caltra lie to the north, on the right.

Layers

• O'Donovan 1843, faint: his map is a claim, not a fact, and this outline is a sketch, not traced.
• Routes: the Slighe Mhór along the Eiscir Riada, the Suck and the Shannon (indicative), the Turoe Stone landmark, and the poets' route, drawn dashed.
• Assembly sites, such as Tullyneeny (location to be confirmed).
• Learned families and the court: An Lios Mór at Pallas, Doon, Ballydoogan, Ballynabanaba, and the nearby court sites of Gallagh and Caltra.
• Surveyed boundary: drawn automatically once Garry Lohan's survey file is added.