A Glossary of Useful Terms Pertaining to
Medieval Celtic Literature
Age of the Saints: the period between about 450 and 700 CE when the Christianization of the British Isles intensified. Most of the Welsh and Irish saints (the ones who were ever real people at all) operated during these times.
Animals: animals considered particularly sacred (though still edible!) in Wales and Ireland include horses, cattle, pigs (especially in Wales), bear, dogs (especially in Ireland) salmon, ravens, cranes (especially in Ireland), and swans.
Awen: (Welsh) poetic/prophetic/divine inspiration
Beltaine: (Irish) May 1, the first day of summer according to the Irish calendar (still celebrated as May Day), usually celebrated with ritual fires and dancing. The medieval Welsh call this holiday kalenmei.
Book of Kells: the masterwork of Insular “Celtic” art, this Gospel book was created in the late eighth century (ca. 794-800?), probably on the Hebridean island of Iona and then brought to the Abbey of Kells in Ireland for safekeeping against the Vikings.
Brehon Law: the set of orally-based laws that oversaw everyday life and politics in early medieval Ireland. They were only partially superseded by Norman laws in the later periods.
Briganti: a goddess worshipped among the Continental Celts, especially among the ancient Gauls. She was probably associated with royal sovereignty and perhaps was the divine spouse of the king. The Welsh word for king, brenhin, derives from this goddess’s name, as does the Irish St. Brigid. Several continental and insular Celtic tribes went by the name Brigantes (= “people of Briganti”). It is also possible that Briganti is not a proper name but rather a title (“queen”?) for the Gaulish horse-goddess Epona.
Brittany: this area of northwest France was settled by Britons from the British Isles as early as the fourth century CE. At times in the first half of the Middle Ages, it constituted an independent political unit, with its own counts. It was later integrated into the Angevin Empire (twelfth century) and then the Kingdom of France (thirteenth century). Breton, a Celtic language closely related to Cornish and Welsh, is still spoken there alongside French.
Caladbolg/Caledfwlch/Caliburn/Excalibur: a magical sword in Welsh, Irish, and later medieval traditions, wielded by King Arthur in Wales and by Fergus mac Roích in Ireland. The name means something like “hard breach.”
Cantred, cantref: terms used both in Wales and Ireland to describe a small territorial unit, traditionally the area encompassing one hundred villages or settlements
Cauldrons: (Irish coire, Welsh pair) often associated with religious rituals among the pre-Christian Celts, according to both classical and archeological evidence.
Cornwall: Like Wales, Cornwall was a bastion of the ancient Britons after the advent of the Anglo-Saxons (English). Cornwall remained independent until about the tenth century, when the English slowly moved in. It was more thoroughly integrated into England in the later Middle Ages. The last native speaker, Dolly Petreath, died in 1797, though there is a significant language revival movement today.
Cyfarwydd: (pl. cyfarwyddiaid) medieval Welsh oral storyteller. The most famous of these may have been Bleddri ap Cydifor, who may have been the Welsh source for later French adaptations of the Arthurian legends.
Cymru: (Welsh) the Welsh name for Wales; the Welsh name for themselves = Cymry; the Welsh language = Cymraeg
Cynfeirdd: (Welsh) literally “the old bards,” the term refers to the poetry of Aneirin, Taliesin, Myrddin, Llywarch Hen, Heledd, and others, all originally composed in Old Welsh between the sixth and eleventh centuries.
Dalriada: a kingdom based in western Scotland, encompassing both coastal areas and some of the Hebrides. It was established by settlers from Ireland in the early sixth century, and it was they who first introduced the Gaelic language to Scotland, which previously had spoken Pictish (in the north) and Cumbric (a dialect of P-Celtic similar to Welsh, in the south). It later formed the basis of the medieval kingdom of Scotland.
Dinnsenchas: (Irish) a genre of Old Irish narrative verse detailing the legendary associations of all aspects of the Irish topography.
Druids: (Irish druí, Welsh derwydd) a priestly caste among the pre-Christian Celts. Later medieval traditions, especially in Wales, transform them into wizards (like Math in the Mabinogi).
Dyfed: (Welsh) an ancient tribal or regional division of Wales, located in the south-west of the country and centered around the Pembrokeshire peninsula. As a territorial appellation, Dyfed was later more or less superseded by the entity of Deheubarth.
Ériu: (Irish) the usual Old Irish name for Ireland (gen. Éirinn)
Euhemerization: the process of redefining pre-Christian deities as earlier peoples, fairies, druids, or wizards
Famous Irish saints: Patrick, Brigid, Columba (Columcille), Kevin, Colmán
Famous Welsh saints: David, Teilo, Melangell, Dwynwen, Illtud, Cadoc
Fían: (Irish) (pl. fíanna) a band of warriors living outside society at large, prominent in the Fenian Cycle.
Fidchell (Irish)/gwyddbwyll (Welsh): a chess-like board game played frequently in medieval Welsh and Irish texts, usually by aristocrats.
Four Ancient Books of Wales: the Black Book of Carmarthen, the Red Book of Hergest, the Book of Taliesin, and the Book of Aneirin. These four medieval manuscripts contain almost the entire corpus of early Welsh poetry.
Fitzgeralds: a Cambro-Norman family, descendants of the Norman knight Gerald of Windsor (d. ca. 1115) and the Welsh princess Nest of Deheubarth (the so-called “Helen of Wales”). The Fitzgeralds in the late twelfth century were instrumental in the initial English conquest of Ireland, and they occupied many lands there. By the later Middle Ages, however, they had become “more Irish than the Irish themselves” and later even rebelled against Queen Elizabeth I. Gerald of Wales is considered a Fitzgerald, as his mother Angharad was the daughter of the founders of the family.
Five Provinces of Ireland: Ulster (Ulad), Leinster (Laigniu), Munster (Mumu), and Connacht (Connachta); the fifth province varies from text to text, but is often considered to be Meath (Míde), the area around Tara.
Gae bolg: (Irish) the elaborate/magical spear wielded by Cú Chulainn.
Geis: (Irish) (pl. gessa, geasa) a taboo or magical injunction requiring absolute abstention from a particular action (Cú Chulainn, for instance, is forbidden to eat dog meat). Breaking a geis usually incurs catastrophic supernatural consequences (as in The Destruction of Dá Derga’s Hostel).
Gogynfeirdd: (Welsh) literally “the not quite so ancient bards,” the term generally refers to the Welsh poets of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Gwynedd: (Welsh, Latin Venedotia) the area of northwest Wales, and one of the traditional regional kingdoms of Wales. It was centered around the Isle of Angelsey and Mount Snowdon and ruled from the eighth through thirteenth centuries by princes of the House of Aberffraw.
Hurling: (Irish lománaíocht) an important sport in early Ireland, dating back to at least the fifth century. And see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurlingen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurling
Isle of Man: the smallest of the six Celtic nations, it was settled in the Iron Age by Celts (probably from Ireland) and later by (non-Celtic) Vikings. The Manx language is on the verge of extinction today, as the last native speaker died in 1974.
Imbas forosna: (Irish) a pre-Christian Irish method of obtaining poetic and prophetic inspiration, usually involving the ritual chewing of animal flesh (pig, dog, cat) followed by a sleep or trance. There may also be a Welsh reflex of this practice in The Dream of Rhonabwy.
Important Irish manuscripts: the Book of Leinster, the Yellow Book of Lecan, the Book of the Dun Cow, the Book of Kells, the Book of Armagh, the Book of Lismore
Inis Fáil: (Irish) an archaic and poetic name for Ireland
Laws of Hywel Dda: (Welsh Cyfraith Hywel Dda) Welsh law code attributed, probably anachronistically, to the tenth-century king Hywel Dda.
La Tène: archeologically-defined Iron-Age culture based in west and central Europe from the sixth to first centuries BCE and usually identified with the Indo-European Celts on the basis of art, artifacts, burial practices, and geographical spread.
Leprechaun: not appearing in this course – sorry! (No shamrocks or shilleleaghs either!)
Lugus: ancient god worshipped widely in Gaul and elsewhere in Europe; etymologically, his name translates into Lugh in Irish and Lleu in Welsh. The Irish harvest festival of Lughnasa is named after Lugh.
Mab darogan: (Welsh) literally “the son of prophecy,” a messiah figure foretold in much Welsh prophetic poetry who would liberate the isle of Britain from Saxon (English) oppressors. The mab darogan was variously identified with Llywelyn Fawr, Owain Glyn Dwr, Cadwallader, and King Arthur.
Megaliths: large “standing stones” (a.k.a. menhirs) or stone burial chambers (a.k.a. cromlechs). These dot the landscape of the British Isles and the Atlantic seaboard. Stonehenge is perhaps the most famous of these. Note that they date from the European Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1000 BCE) and thus are NOT Celtic constructions in any sense, though the Welsh, Irish and others often associate them with older legendary peoples (Tuatha Dé Danann, fairies, etc.).
Picts: a people inhabiting the northern areas of the island of Britain. The scholarly consensus emerging now is that the Picts were at least partially Celticized and probably spoke a Celtic language. There is also some evidence to suggest that the Picts were matrilineal. The Welsh term for the Picts was Prydyn, and this may reflect some version of the Picts’ name for themselves. It is thus also likely that the name “Britain” itself (Welsh Prydain) derived from the Picts.
Poets: a powerful and revered class in ancient and medieval Ireland and Wales; the Irish in particular distinguished many sub-classes of poets. Different terms for poets include bardd (Welsh), filid, faith, and bard (Irish). Much of the poet’s value lay in his (or her!) ability to compose praise poems, satires, and elegies, as well as reciting genealogies and traditional lore.
Powys: the area of east-central Wales, and the area most severely threatened by medieval English colonialism.
Samhain: (Irish) November 1, the first day of winter according to the Irish calendar (still celebrated as All Saints’ Day/Halloween).
Sarhad: (Welsh) an insult, intentional or not, to one’s superior that could incur a legal penalty
Scotland: Traditionally divided into a (northern) Highland and a (southern) Lowland zone. In the early Middle Ages, the Picts dominated the Highlands, and the Britons (speaking a dialect of Brittonic called Cumbric) dominated the Lowlands, including Edinburgh (Din Eidin). Beginning in the sixth century, the Irish gradually moved into Scotland, eventually displacing both Picts and Britons. The ninth century brought severe Viking incursions. The first king of a unified Scotland was Kenneth MacAlpin (d. 858). Modern Scottish Gaelic is descended from Old Irish and is more or less mutually comprehensible with modern Irish.
Sídh: (Irish) (pl. sídhe) In medieval Irish texts, the “fairy mounds” or the subterranean halls or dwellings of the Tuatha Dé Danaan and thus the entryways to the Otherworld. the remnants of Bronze Age (pre-Celtic) political centers; the rough equivalent in Welsh is gorsedd. Renowned examples would include Brugh-na-Boinne (Newgrange) and Cruachan, in Ireland, Gorsedd Arberth in Wales, and Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England.
St. David’s: a city in southwest Wales and the seat of the largest and most important cathedral in Wales. Disputes as to whether the bishopric of St. David’s was once an archbishopric (and thus independent of English influence) formed the center of Welsh resistance to English control in the twelfth century.
Tara: (Irish Temair) the legendary seat of the High Kings of Ireland; historically, it was a pre-Celtic dynastic and religious center that retained its importance after Gaelic settlement.
Triads: mnemonic devices consisting of groupings of three closely related concepts used by poets in medieval Wales as a means of recalling traditional lore. Examples: “The Three Unfortunate Hatchet-Blows of the Island of Britain,” “Three Fettered Men of the Island of Britain,” “Arthur’s Three Great Queens,” “Three Bull-Spectres of the Island of Britain.”
Tuatha Dé Danann: (Irish) the “people of the goddess Danu”; the race of immortal or magical fairy folk said to have occupied Ireland before the coming of the Gaels (Celts); the inhabitants of the síde. The goddess Danu is etymologically equivalent to the shadowy Welsh ancestral figure Dôn, the mother of Gwydion, Arianrhod and others in the Mabinogi.
Vikings: Norse (and thus non-Celtic) merchant-raiders who swept through the Celtic countries (and through much of the rest of Europe from the ninth to eleventh centuries). They sometimes figure in Irish texts as the Fomorians. The city of Dublin is of Viking origin, though further Viking domination of Ireland was staved off by High King Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf (1014 CE).
Uí Neill: (Irish) a dynasty that dominated Ulster and Leinster during the fourth through tenth centuries and who usually held the High Kingship of Ireland during this period. The Uí Neill (or O’Neills) are named after their legendary forebearer Níall Noígiallach (“Niall of the Nine Hostages), who probably lived in the fifth century.
Animals: animals considered particularly sacred (though still edible!) in Wales and Ireland include horses, cattle, pigs (especially in Wales), bear, dogs (especially in Ireland) salmon, ravens, cranes (especially in Ireland), and swans.
Awen: (Welsh) poetic/prophetic/divine inspiration
Beltaine: (Irish) May 1, the first day of summer according to the Irish calendar (still celebrated as May Day), usually celebrated with ritual fires and dancing. The medieval Welsh call this holiday kalenmei.
Book of Kells: the masterwork of Insular “Celtic” art, this Gospel book was created in the late eighth century (ca. 794-800?), probably on the Hebridean island of Iona and then brought to the Abbey of Kells in Ireland for safekeeping against the Vikings.
Brehon Law: the set of orally-based laws that oversaw everyday life and politics in early medieval Ireland. They were only partially superseded by Norman laws in the later periods.
Briganti: a goddess worshipped among the Continental Celts, especially among the ancient Gauls. She was probably associated with royal sovereignty and perhaps was the divine spouse of the king. The Welsh word for king, brenhin, derives from this goddess’s name, as does the Irish St. Brigid. Several continental and insular Celtic tribes went by the name Brigantes (= “people of Briganti”). It is also possible that Briganti is not a proper name but rather a title (“queen”?) for the Gaulish horse-goddess Epona.
Brittany: this area of northwest France was settled by Britons from the British Isles as early as the fourth century CE. At times in the first half of the Middle Ages, it constituted an independent political unit, with its own counts. It was later integrated into the Angevin Empire (twelfth century) and then the Kingdom of France (thirteenth century). Breton, a Celtic language closely related to Cornish and Welsh, is still spoken there alongside French.
Caladbolg/Caledfwlch/Caliburn/Excalibur: a magical sword in Welsh, Irish, and later medieval traditions, wielded by King Arthur in Wales and by Fergus mac Roích in Ireland. The name means something like “hard breach.”
Cantred, cantref: terms used both in Wales and Ireland to describe a small territorial unit, traditionally the area encompassing one hundred villages or settlements
Cauldrons: (Irish coire, Welsh pair) often associated with religious rituals among the pre-Christian Celts, according to both classical and archeological evidence.
Cornwall: Like Wales, Cornwall was a bastion of the ancient Britons after the advent of the Anglo-Saxons (English). Cornwall remained independent until about the tenth century, when the English slowly moved in. It was more thoroughly integrated into England in the later Middle Ages. The last native speaker, Dolly Petreath, died in 1797, though there is a significant language revival movement today.
Cyfarwydd: (pl. cyfarwyddiaid) medieval Welsh oral storyteller. The most famous of these may have been Bleddri ap Cydifor, who may have been the Welsh source for later French adaptations of the Arthurian legends.
Cymru: (Welsh) the Welsh name for Wales; the Welsh name for themselves = Cymry; the Welsh language = Cymraeg
Cynfeirdd: (Welsh) literally “the old bards,” the term refers to the poetry of Aneirin, Taliesin, Myrddin, Llywarch Hen, Heledd, and others, all originally composed in Old Welsh between the sixth and eleventh centuries.
Dalriada: a kingdom based in western Scotland, encompassing both coastal areas and some of the Hebrides. It was established by settlers from Ireland in the early sixth century, and it was they who first introduced the Gaelic language to Scotland, which previously had spoken Pictish (in the north) and Cumbric (a dialect of P-Celtic similar to Welsh, in the south). It later formed the basis of the medieval kingdom of Scotland.
Dinnsenchas: (Irish) a genre of Old Irish narrative verse detailing the legendary associations of all aspects of the Irish topography.
Druids: (Irish druí, Welsh derwydd) a priestly caste among the pre-Christian Celts. Later medieval traditions, especially in Wales, transform them into wizards (like Math in the Mabinogi).
Dyfed: (Welsh) an ancient tribal or regional division of Wales, located in the south-west of the country and centered around the Pembrokeshire peninsula. As a territorial appellation, Dyfed was later more or less superseded by the entity of Deheubarth.
Ériu: (Irish) the usual Old Irish name for Ireland (gen. Éirinn)
Euhemerization: the process of redefining pre-Christian deities as earlier peoples, fairies, druids, or wizards
Famous Irish saints: Patrick, Brigid, Columba (Columcille), Kevin, Colmán
Famous Welsh saints: David, Teilo, Melangell, Dwynwen, Illtud, Cadoc
Fían: (Irish) (pl. fíanna) a band of warriors living outside society at large, prominent in the Fenian Cycle.
Fidchell (Irish)/gwyddbwyll (Welsh): a chess-like board game played frequently in medieval Welsh and Irish texts, usually by aristocrats.
Four Ancient Books of Wales: the Black Book of Carmarthen, the Red Book of Hergest, the Book of Taliesin, and the Book of Aneirin. These four medieval manuscripts contain almost the entire corpus of early Welsh poetry.
Fitzgeralds: a Cambro-Norman family, descendants of the Norman knight Gerald of Windsor (d. ca. 1115) and the Welsh princess Nest of Deheubarth (the so-called “Helen of Wales”). The Fitzgeralds in the late twelfth century were instrumental in the initial English conquest of Ireland, and they occupied many lands there. By the later Middle Ages, however, they had become “more Irish than the Irish themselves” and later even rebelled against Queen Elizabeth I. Gerald of Wales is considered a Fitzgerald, as his mother Angharad was the daughter of the founders of the family.
Five Provinces of Ireland: Ulster (Ulad), Leinster (Laigniu), Munster (Mumu), and Connacht (Connachta); the fifth province varies from text to text, but is often considered to be Meath (Míde), the area around Tara.
Gae bolg: (Irish) the elaborate/magical spear wielded by Cú Chulainn.
Geis: (Irish) (pl. gessa, geasa) a taboo or magical injunction requiring absolute abstention from a particular action (Cú Chulainn, for instance, is forbidden to eat dog meat). Breaking a geis usually incurs catastrophic supernatural consequences (as in The Destruction of Dá Derga’s Hostel).
Gogynfeirdd: (Welsh) literally “the not quite so ancient bards,” the term generally refers to the Welsh poets of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Gwynedd: (Welsh, Latin Venedotia) the area of northwest Wales, and one of the traditional regional kingdoms of Wales. It was centered around the Isle of Angelsey and Mount Snowdon and ruled from the eighth through thirteenth centuries by princes of the House of Aberffraw.
Hurling: (Irish lománaíocht) an important sport in early Ireland, dating back to at least the fifth century. And see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurlingen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurling
Isle of Man: the smallest of the six Celtic nations, it was settled in the Iron Age by Celts (probably from Ireland) and later by (non-Celtic) Vikings. The Manx language is on the verge of extinction today, as the last native speaker died in 1974.
Imbas forosna: (Irish) a pre-Christian Irish method of obtaining poetic and prophetic inspiration, usually involving the ritual chewing of animal flesh (pig, dog, cat) followed by a sleep or trance. There may also be a Welsh reflex of this practice in The Dream of Rhonabwy.
Important Irish manuscripts: the Book of Leinster, the Yellow Book of Lecan, the Book of the Dun Cow, the Book of Kells, the Book of Armagh, the Book of Lismore
Inis Fáil: (Irish) an archaic and poetic name for Ireland
Laws of Hywel Dda: (Welsh Cyfraith Hywel Dda) Welsh law code attributed, probably anachronistically, to the tenth-century king Hywel Dda.
La Tène: archeologically-defined Iron-Age culture based in west and central Europe from the sixth to first centuries BCE and usually identified with the Indo-European Celts on the basis of art, artifacts, burial practices, and geographical spread.
Leprechaun: not appearing in this course – sorry! (No shamrocks or shilleleaghs either!)
Lugus: ancient god worshipped widely in Gaul and elsewhere in Europe; etymologically, his name translates into Lugh in Irish and Lleu in Welsh. The Irish harvest festival of Lughnasa is named after Lugh.
Mab darogan: (Welsh) literally “the son of prophecy,” a messiah figure foretold in much Welsh prophetic poetry who would liberate the isle of Britain from Saxon (English) oppressors. The mab darogan was variously identified with Llywelyn Fawr, Owain Glyn Dwr, Cadwallader, and King Arthur.
Megaliths: large “standing stones” (a.k.a. menhirs) or stone burial chambers (a.k.a. cromlechs). These dot the landscape of the British Isles and the Atlantic seaboard. Stonehenge is perhaps the most famous of these. Note that they date from the European Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1000 BCE) and thus are NOT Celtic constructions in any sense, though the Welsh, Irish and others often associate them with older legendary peoples (Tuatha Dé Danann, fairies, etc.).
Picts: a people inhabiting the northern areas of the island of Britain. The scholarly consensus emerging now is that the Picts were at least partially Celticized and probably spoke a Celtic language. There is also some evidence to suggest that the Picts were matrilineal. The Welsh term for the Picts was Prydyn, and this may reflect some version of the Picts’ name for themselves. It is thus also likely that the name “Britain” itself (Welsh Prydain) derived from the Picts.
Poets: a powerful and revered class in ancient and medieval Ireland and Wales; the Irish in particular distinguished many sub-classes of poets. Different terms for poets include bardd (Welsh), filid, faith, and bard (Irish). Much of the poet’s value lay in his (or her!) ability to compose praise poems, satires, and elegies, as well as reciting genealogies and traditional lore.
Powys: the area of east-central Wales, and the area most severely threatened by medieval English colonialism.
Samhain: (Irish) November 1, the first day of winter according to the Irish calendar (still celebrated as All Saints’ Day/Halloween).
Sarhad: (Welsh) an insult, intentional or not, to one’s superior that could incur a legal penalty
Scotland: Traditionally divided into a (northern) Highland and a (southern) Lowland zone. In the early Middle Ages, the Picts dominated the Highlands, and the Britons (speaking a dialect of Brittonic called Cumbric) dominated the Lowlands, including Edinburgh (Din Eidin). Beginning in the sixth century, the Irish gradually moved into Scotland, eventually displacing both Picts and Britons. The ninth century brought severe Viking incursions. The first king of a unified Scotland was Kenneth MacAlpin (d. 858). Modern Scottish Gaelic is descended from Old Irish and is more or less mutually comprehensible with modern Irish.
Sídh: (Irish) (pl. sídhe) In medieval Irish texts, the “fairy mounds” or the subterranean halls or dwellings of the Tuatha Dé Danaan and thus the entryways to the Otherworld. the remnants of Bronze Age (pre-Celtic) political centers; the rough equivalent in Welsh is gorsedd. Renowned examples would include Brugh-na-Boinne (Newgrange) and Cruachan, in Ireland, Gorsedd Arberth in Wales, and Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England.
St. David’s: a city in southwest Wales and the seat of the largest and most important cathedral in Wales. Disputes as to whether the bishopric of St. David’s was once an archbishopric (and thus independent of English influence) formed the center of Welsh resistance to English control in the twelfth century.
Tara: (Irish Temair) the legendary seat of the High Kings of Ireland; historically, it was a pre-Celtic dynastic and religious center that retained its importance after Gaelic settlement.
Triads: mnemonic devices consisting of groupings of three closely related concepts used by poets in medieval Wales as a means of recalling traditional lore. Examples: “The Three Unfortunate Hatchet-Blows of the Island of Britain,” “Three Fettered Men of the Island of Britain,” “Arthur’s Three Great Queens,” “Three Bull-Spectres of the Island of Britain.”
Tuatha Dé Danann: (Irish) the “people of the goddess Danu”; the race of immortal or magical fairy folk said to have occupied Ireland before the coming of the Gaels (Celts); the inhabitants of the síde. The goddess Danu is etymologically equivalent to the shadowy Welsh ancestral figure Dôn, the mother of Gwydion, Arianrhod and others in the Mabinogi.
Vikings: Norse (and thus non-Celtic) merchant-raiders who swept through the Celtic countries (and through much of the rest of Europe from the ninth to eleventh centuries). They sometimes figure in Irish texts as the Fomorians. The city of Dublin is of Viking origin, though further Viking domination of Ireland was staved off by High King Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf (1014 CE).
Uí Neill: (Irish) a dynasty that dominated Ulster and Leinster during the fourth through tenth centuries and who usually held the High Kingship of Ireland during this period. The Uí Neill (or O’Neills) are named after their legendary forebearer Níall Noígiallach (“Niall of the Nine Hostages), who probably lived in the fifth century.