Dáire is an

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

name which fell out of use at an early period, remaining restricted essentially to legendary and ancestral figures, usually male. It has come back into fashion since the 18th century. The anglicised form of this name is Dara.

Bearers of the name

Pre-modern world

* Dáire Barrach, a

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

dynast and son of

Cathair Mór Cathair Mór ("the great"), son of Feidhlimidh Fiorurghlas, a descendant of Conchobar Abradruad, was, according to Lebor Gabála Érenn, a High King of Ireland. Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, Section 40, page 259, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/ ...

of the

Laigin The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish as ''Cóiced Laigen'', meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinster ...

Dáire Cerbba Dáire Cerbba (or Cerba, Cearba, Cearb; meaning "Silver Dáire" or "Dáire the Sharp/Cutting") was a 4th-century Irish dynast who was evidently a king of late prehistoric central northern Munster, called Medón Mairtíne at the time. A frequent ...

, a Munster dynast of the 4th century * Dáire Derg, character from the

Fenian Cycle The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle ( ga, an Fhiannaíocht) is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the Ossi ...

possibly identical with Goll mac Morna *

Dáire Doimthech Dáire Doimthech (Dáire "poor house"), alias Dáire Sírchréchtach ("the ever-wounded"), son of Sithbolg, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland, and one of the eponymous ancestors of the proto-historical Dáirine and historical ...

(Sírchréchtach), a legendary

King of Tara The term Kingship of Tara () was a title of authority in ancient Ireland - the title is closely associated with the archaeological complex at the Hill of Tara. The position was considered to be of eminent authority in medieval Irish literature ...

, ancestor of the '' Dáirine'' and Corcu Loígde * Dáire Donn, "king of the great world" from the ''

Battle of Ventry A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

'' of the Fenian Cycle * Dáire Dornmár, a grandson of the legendary

Conaire Mór Conaire Mór (the great), son of Eterscél, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His mother was Mess Búachalla, who was either the daughter of Eochu Feidlech and Étaín, or of Eochu Airem and ...

and early king of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is n ...

* Dáire Drechlethan, a King of Tara of uncertain identity listed in the ''

Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig ''Baile Chuind Chétchathaig'' (, "The Vision of Conn of the Hundred Battles") is an Old Irish list of Kings of Tara or High Kings of Ireland which survives in two 16th-century manuscripts, 23 N 10 and Egerton 88. It is the earliest such king-li ...

'' * Dáire mac Cormaic, a son of the celebrated

Cormac mac Airt Cormac mac Airt, also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings ...

* Dáire mac Degad, father of the legendary Cú Roí and alternative ancestor of the ''Dáirine'' * Dáire mac Dlúthaig, father of Fiatach Finn of the

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and i ...

, ancestor of the

Dál Fiatach Dál Fiatach was a Gaelic dynastic-grouping and the name of their territory in the north-east of Ireland during the Middle Ages. It was part of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and they were its main ruling dynasty for most of Ulaid's history. Their ...

Dáire mac Fiachna In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Dáire mac Fiachna is an Ulster cattle-lord and owner of Donn Cuailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley, over which the '' Táin Bó Cuailnge'' (Cattle Raid of Cooley) was fought. Following the medieval Irish geneal ...

, cattle-lord from the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

, owner of the

Donn Cuailnge In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology Donn Cúailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley, was an extremely fertile stud bull over whom the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) was fought. Prologue A ninth century ''rémscéla'' or foretale recount ...

and cousin of

Conchobar mac Nessa Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh). He is usually said to be the son of the High King Fachtna Fáthach, although in some stories hi ...

* Dáire mac Forgo (Forggo), an early king of

Emain Macha Navan Fort ( sga, Emain Macha ; ga, Eamhain Mhacha, label= Modern Irish ) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the cap ...

of the Ulaid and alternative father of Fiatach Finn * Dáire of Ulster, a later king of Ulster during the reign of

Lóegaire mac Néill Lóegaire ('' floruit'' fifth century) (reigned 428–458 AD, according to the Annals of the Four Masters of the Kingdom of Ireland)(died c. 462), also Lóeguire, is said to have been a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The Irish annals and king ...

, High King of Ireland, and allegedly visited by Saint Patrick

Modern world

Daire Brehan Daire Brehan (7 August 1957, in Dublin – 30 August 2012, in London) was an Irish actress, broadcaster and barrister who presented a variety of BBC Radio programmes during the 1990s including ''Language Live'', for BBC Radio 5, '' You and Yo ...

(1957–2012), Irish actress, broadcaster and barrister * Daire Doyle (born 1980), Irish assistant football manager and former player * Daire Gray (born 1998), Irish hurler *

Daire Keogh Daire Kilian Keogh (born July 1964) is an academic historian and third-level educational leader, president of Dublin City University (DCU) since July 2020. Keogh graduated in history, later taking a PhD while working part-time as a school tea ...

(born 1964), Irish academic, historian and president of Dublin City University * Daire Nolan (born 1968), Irish dancer and choreographer * Daire O'Brien, Irish broadcaster and journalist * Daire O'Connor (born 1997), Irish footballer * Daire Plunkett (born 1990), Irish hurler * Daire Quinn (), Irish hurler * Daire Rendon (born 1952), American politician

Interpretations

Both

Eoin MacNeill Eoin MacNeill ( ga, Eoin Mac Néill; born John McNeill; 15 May 1867 – 15 October 1945) was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Cea ...

and T. F. O'Rahilly believed that most, if not all of those listed may derive from the same prehistoric or mythological figure, or have adopted each other's features to such an extent as to all be composites. The latter states that Daire and Cú Roí "are ultimately one and the same", and refers to him as "the god of the

Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherwor ...

Meaning and origins

The meaning is both sexual ("fruitful, fertile, rutty") and tumultuous ("violent"). The reconstructed form is ''*Dārios'', cognate to the

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

''Dari(o)'' ("tumult, rage"), a form widely attested on the Continent, especially in personal names. The

Darini The Darini (Δαρῖνοι) (manuscript variant: Darnii �άρνιοι were a people of ancient Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in south Antrim and north Down. Their name implies descent from an ancestor called ...

were a population group or kingdom located by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

's 2nd century ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

'' in south Antrim and north Down. Julius Pokorny believed this to be a mistake for ''Darioni'', from the groundform ''*Dārio-nion'', reconstructed from the proto-historical '' Dairine'', descendants of Daire Doimthech / Daire mac Dedad and ancestors of the historical Corcu Loígde. They were probably also ancestral, at least in part, to the

, the descendants of Fiatach Finn mac Daire and known as the historical

(< ''*Uluti'' / ''Uoluntii''), mentioned by Ptolemy living adjacent to the Darini.

Lugaid

* See: Lugaid for additional persons Closely associated with Daire in Irish legend is the heroic figure Lugaid. According to O'Rahilly he was the son of Dáire, Lugaid mac Dáire or Lugaid Loígde, son of Dáire Doimthech (or Sírchrechtach), but was chiefly remembered in the person of his 'descendant'

Lugaid Mac Con Lugaid Mac Con, often known simply as Mac Con, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the Corcu Loígde, and thus to the Dáirine. His father was Macnia mac Lugdach, and his mothe ...

. His other principal emanation was

Lugaid mac Con Roí :''See Lugaid for other figures of the same name, and Lug for the god the name derives from.'' In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Lugaid mac Con Roí was the son of Cú Roí mac Dáire. He was also known as Lugaid mac Trí Con ("son of thr ...

, son of Cú Roí and famously known from the

. In addition, the revolting

Lugaid Riab nDerg Lugaid Riab nDerg ("the red-striped") or Réoderg ("Red Sky"), son of the three '' findemna'', triplet sons of Eochu Feidlech, and their sister Clothru was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. C ...

has been suggested as a relation to these,This character, Lugaid Riab nDerg, does not have any Munster-specific or Ulster-specific origins (equivalent to saying this Lugaid is given no descent from any Dáire), and thus if another emanation of the original Lugaid he can only be a literary corruption or invention from outside the original source traditions. In fact he has been made a grandson of

Eochu Feidlech Eochu or Eochaid Feidlech ("the enduring"), was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legends and historical traditions. He is best known as the father of the legendary queen Medb of Connacht. Family Eochu was son of Finn, son of ...

and thus nephew of Queen Medb of Connacht. or alternatively a very different individual and King of Tara once known as Lugaid Réoderg.

Notes

References

* Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise''. Paris: Editions Errance. 2nd edition, revised and augmented. 2003. * James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. 1998. *

, ''Celtic Ireland''. Academy Press. 1981 (reissue with new intro. and notes by

Donnchadh Ó Corráin Donnchadh Ó Corráin (28 February 1942 – 25 October 2017) was an Irish historian and Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at University College Cork. He earned his BA in history and Irish from that institution, graduating in 1964. He was ...

of original Martin Lester Ltd edition, 1921). *

Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brother ...

(ed.), "The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories", in ''

Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie The ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was established in 1897 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern.Busse, Peter E. "''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie''." In ''Ce ...

8'' (1912): 291–338. * Michael A. O'Brien (ed.) with intr. by John V. Kelleher, ''Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae''. DIAS. 1976. / partial digital edition:

(ed.), Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502. University College, Cork: Corpus of Electronic Texts. 1997. * T. F. O'Rahilly, ''Early Irish History and Mythology''.

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

. 1946. * Julius Pokorny, "Beiträge zur ältesten Geschichte Irlands (3. Érainn, Dári(n)ne und die Iverni und Darini des Ptolomäus)", in ''

12'' (1918): 323–57. *

Whitley Stokes Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA (28 February 1830 – 13 April 1909) was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar. Background He was a son of William Stokes (1804–1878), and a grandson of Whitley Stokes the physician and anti-Malthusian (1763� ...

(ed. & tr.), "Cóir Anmann (Fitness of Names)", in Whitley Stokes and

Ernst Windisch Ernst Wilhelm Oskar Windisch (4 September 1844, Dresden30 October 1918, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist and comparative linguist who specialised in Sanskrit, Celtic and Indo-European studies. In his student days at the University of ...

, ''Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch. Volume 3, Parts 1–2''. Leipzig: Verlag von S. Hirzel. 1891 (1); 1897 (2). pp. 285–444. alternative scan
alternative scan II
; Dictionary of the Irish Language
eDIL – Dictionary of the Irish Language
Letter: D1 (D-Degóir), Columns 34 through 36 {{DEFAULTSORT:Daire Irish-language masculine given names Ancient Ireland Legendary High Kings of Ireland