- Eóganacht Raithlind
Eóganacht Raithlind or Uí Echach Muman were a branch of the
Eóganachta , the ruling dynasty ofMunster during the 5th-10th centuries. They took their name from Raithlinn or Raithleann described around the area of Bandon, in the same area. Archaeologists believe that Garranes Ringfort in Templemartin parish, near Bandon, County Cork may have been Rath Raithleann, the royal seat of the Éoganacht Raithleann. They were descended from Mac Cass, the son ofConall Corc , the first King of Cashel, through Mac Cass' son Echu.In the 6th century the Uí Echach Muman split into two major groups; the Uí Láegaire and the Cenel nÁeda. The Cenel nÁeda were descended from Echu's grandson Áed Ualgarb mac Crimthainn. They gave their name to the barony of Kinalea in southern County Cork. An important sub-sept of the Cenel nÁeda were the Cénel mBéicce, descended from Bécc mac Fergusa (died 661) who gave their tribal name to the barony of Kinelmeaky. They later became the O Mathghamhna or O'Mahony.
The Cenél Láegaire were descended from Echu's grandson Lóegaire mac Crimthainn and expanded westward toward Bantry as early as the 8th century They were later represented by Ua Donnchadha, or O'Donoghues, a sept whose chiefs later settled in County Kerry.
Members of the Raithlind branch only rarely held the throne of all Munster. According to tradition Mac Cass died before his father and so Conall Corc took his son's inheritance and instead imposed his grandson Echu in the south thereby excluding them from the inner circle of Eoganachta. The Raithlind branch was semi-independent in the south in the territory of Desmond or South Munster, though they may have been subject to the
Eóganacht Locha Léin at times during the height of their power in the late 6th and 7th centuries.References
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 978-1-85182-196-9
* Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), "Early Christian Ireland", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-36395-0
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/munster.htm#eoghanacht Ireland's History in Maps]
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