Above : Cormac Mac Airt

The chief interest in the dynasties thus firmly established in the second century centres around the descendants of Conn and of Mogh Nuadhat. During the next two centuries we find the vigorous descendants of Conn building up a strong and compact Kingdom whose centre was Tara, until eventually his posterity overflowed to establish new dynasties of the ” Siol Chuinn ” in other parts of the island. During the same period the race of Mogh Nuadhat—or more correctly of his son Oilioll Olim—not only maintained their supremacy over the numerous powerful tribes of the South, but extended their sway further, both north and east, until their Kings from their new seat in Cashel ruled over nearly all Leath Mhogha.

• Cormac Mac Airt (A.D. 227-268).—In the reign of Cormac Mac Airt, a grandson of Conn, Tara reached its greatest splendour. During a long reign of forty years he carried on wars against the Clanna Rury, the descendants of Cahir Mor and of Oilioll Olim, and also against the tribes of Connacht. But his greatest fame was as an administrator and as patron of laws and learning. To Cormac are ascribed most of the buildings which covered the Hill of Tara, chief among them being the ” Teach Miodh Chuarta,” or Banqueting Hall, of whose glories the early literature contains glowing descriptions. Colleges for war, history, and law were also established by him, and during his reign the first mill erected in Ireland was built on the slopes of the royal hill. He is said to have had compiled the ” Saltair of Tara ” (now lost), which contained an account of the territories ruled over by the King of Tara, and the tributes payable to him in respect of them. Retiring from the throne, he wrote ” CeA^AfS tliog,” or ” Instruction of a Prince,” full of enlightened principles of conduct and government. Tradition sayd that Cormac had gained some conception of Christianity, and that accord-inglyhe left instructions that hewas not to be buried in the Pagan cemetery of the Kings called ” t)|\u§ n& t><5nine ” at Newgrange on the Boyne.
• The ” Fianna.”—Cormac Mac Airt is one of the principal characters in the mass of literature which narrates the exploits of the Fianna or ” Fenians.” That these were organised bodies of professional soldiers under their own leaders, independent of all tribal ties, seems to be clear. Although the stories relate mostly to the Fianna who dwelt on the borders of Leinster and Meath, there were also similar bodies in Connacht and in Munster. Mostly we find the Fianna in opposition to the Kings of Tara. Under their leader, Cumhal (Cool), they were defeated by Conn at Cnucha or Castleknock, but in the time of Cormac, we find them under Fionn, the son of Cumhal, in alliance with the King, a fact which may account for some of the splendour of his reign. In the reign of Cormae’s son, Cairbre of the Liffey, they again are hostile, and are finally destroyed by him at the battle of Gabhra, near Skreen in Meath (a.d. 284).
• Niall of the Hostages (A.D. 379-405).—So powerful had the Kings of Tara become that in the next century we find them carrying their arms into the neighbouring island, and even to the Continent of Europe. Three hundred years before, the Romans, having subdued the Celts of what is modern France, had also conquered (a.d. 81) the southern part of Britain, known to the Gaels as ” Albion,” and now called England. The Britons were all enslaved except those in Wales and other parts of the West. In the north of ” Alba ” or Scotland, the ” Picts,” and some Gaels, who had settled in a district called Dal Riada* remained independent. The Roman dominion was now on the decline, and Britons and Picts and Gaels assailed the common enemy. In their attacks they were aided by different expeditions from Eire. One of the most famous leaders in these expeditions was Niall, King of Tara, called of the Nine Hostages.” He first aided the Gaels of Dal Riada against the Picts, and then led both against the decaying Roman power. Eventually, Niall carried his arms across to the Continent, and was killed on the banks of the Loire. Soon after his death the Romans finally withdrew their soldiers from Britain (a.d. 411).

In the accounts by Latin writers of these attacks the name ” Scots ” generally signifies Gaels, as it was not until long afterwards that Alba became known as Scotland—taking its name, indeed, from the Gaelic ; colonists who in later years established it as a unified Kingdom. The Southern Kingdom of Caiseal.—While the descendants of Conn were thus engaged in establishing a compact Kingdom in the central plain stretching from the Shannon to the sea, another great power was being slowly developed in the South by the posterity of his rival, Mogh Nuadhat. Of the two branches of his family, the Southern, or Eoghanacht, was at first the more powerful. At first these occupied all the territory on the southern bank of the Lower Shannon, but gradually penetrating into the mountains on their west, and through the great forest of Coill M6r, which lay on their south, they settled colonies and brought all the tribes of the South under tribute. Then they turned eastwards along the slopes of the Galtees to the upper waters of the Suir, and in the 4th century seized upon the Rock of Cashel. This conspicuous and imposing place upon the border of their territory became thence­forward regarded as the seat of the Southern Kingdom—a Tara of the South—and the ” King of Caiseal” was entitled to the services or tributes of the tribes of Munster.

Dal Riada ” consisted really of two sections, one in Ireland and one in Scotland, separated only by a narrow sea.

At the same time as the Eoghanachta were establishing their supremacy in South Munster, their rival kinsmen, the Dal Chais* were expanding on the North. Eventually they crossed the river Shannon into the traditional province of Connacht, and under Lughaidh Meann, settled down in permanent occupation of a large territory corresponding to most of the present County Clare (a.d. 300). Many of the surrounding tribes, also, were brought under tribute. Their movement northwards along the banks of the Shannon continued for many years, and was only finally stopped in the fifth century when a king of the new Connacht dynasty planted the Ui Maine tribes as a barrier to their progress .

The Dal Chais had the right of ” alternate succession ” with the Eoghanachta to the throne of ” Cashel.” In early years the rule was fairly well adhered to, but in later times it was frequently broken.