Page 44 - Demo

44 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
The Fifth of Ulster was now divided into three Kingdoms, Aileach, Oriel and Ulster itself, which was still a separate kingdom and occupied the territory east of the river Bann.
The ancient Five Fifths of Ireland had now been replaced by Seven Kingdoms. Four of them, Connacht, Oriel, Aileach, and Meath, were ruled by the Kings of Connacht or their kinsmen: Ulster east of the river Bann was still independent; whilst Southern Leinster continued as a separate Kingdom, though it had lost a large part of its territory to the more powerful province of Munster, whose Kings now ruled from their more central royal resi- dence of Cashel, in present day Tipperary.
By this time the Kings of Connacht may be said to have succeeded in establishing the High-Kingship of Ireland, with its central seat at Tara in the Kingdom of Meath. As al- ready referenced, the attainment of this had been their ambition since the time of Tuathal the Legitimate (150-175 A.D.) and, though Cormac Mac Airt made claim to the title, the first real High King was the aforementioned Niall of the Nine Hostages, the progenitor of the present day O’Neills.
Having now established the High-Kingship, the people of Connacht had the privilege of promoting their king to that position whenever it became vacant. In the beginning, the High-Kingship was more of a title of honour and dignity than a position of power. When the High King succeeded to the title, he made a circuit of the other kingdoms, in each of which he was given hostages by the provincial king, to whom, he, in turn, gave gifts, the acceptance of which was considered to be an act of submission. The provincial kings also had to go, with their men at arms, to the High King’s “hosting”, or military display, every year. They also had to take their disputes to be judged by him, in his court of justice, and had to accept his decision. And of course, apart from small tributes, there was the massive cow-tribute which had to be paid by Leinster, a tribute which all the High Kings insisted should be paid.
During this period, the Kings of Connacht became so powerful that they often led plun- dering raids into Britain and the European continent. It was while engaged on one of these that Niall of the Nine Hostages met his death when he was murdered on the banks of the Loire by the son of the King of Leinster. Niall’s son, Nath 1 (404-429), who succeeded him, also, it is recounted, met his end on an expedition to the continent and was killed by light- ning at the foot of the Alps. Laoighaire (429-462) succeeded Nath 1, and it was during the reign of Laoighaire that St. Patrick came to Ireland to preach Christianity.