Ressad or Ress refers to a now lost city and possibly also to a territory that is still unidentified but believed by scholars to have been somewhere within the borders of modern

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

in western Ireland, in what was once the territory of the kingdom of the

Uí Fidgenti The Uí Fidgenti, Fidgeinti, Fidgheinte, Fidugeinte, Fidgente, or Fidgeinte ( or ;In the pronunciation, the -d- is silent, and the -g- becomes a glide, producing what might be anglicized ''Feeyenti'' or ''Feeyenta''. "descendants of, or of the ...

. The name occurs in only a small number of surviving sources, which for this region of Ireland, of once respectable wealth, are generally quite poor.

Battle of Ressad

Túathal Techtmar Túathal Techtmar (; 'the legitimate'), son of Fíachu Finnolach, was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition. He is said to be the ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties through his grandso ...

Colmán of Cloyne

According to the early tale known as ''

Conall Corc Corc mac Luigthig (340-379),Genealogy of the House of Mac-Carthy formerly Sovereign of the Two Momonies or Southern Ireland, P. Louis Lainé, pg. 26, https://celt.ucc.ie/published/F830000-001.html also called Conall Corc, Corc of Cashel, and Corc ...

and the Corcu Luigde'', Saint

Colmán of Cloyne Saint Colmán of Cloyne (530 – 606), also Colmán mac Léníne, was a monk, founder and patron of Cluain Uama, now Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland, and one of the earliest known Irish poets to write in the vernacular.Johnston, "Munster, sain ...

cursed the city of Ressad, which brought down its walls.

Kings of Ressad

Only two Kings of Ressad are known from the surviving sources, both probably belonging to the second half of the 10th century. The ''

Annals of Inisfallen Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' style

Donnubán mac Cathail Donnubán ('donuva:n), Donndubán ('donðuva:n), or Donnabán mac Cathail, anglicised Donovan, son of Cahall (died 980), was a tenth-century ruler of the Irish regional kingdom of Uí Fidgenti, and possibly also of the smaller overkingdom of Uí C ...

, until this time styled King of Uí Fidgenti, instead King of Ressad at his death in 980. He is the only king ever so styled in all the (surviving and intact) Irish annals. The early 12th century saga and political tract ''

Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' ("The War of the Irish with the Foreigners") is a medieval Irish text that tells of the depredations of the Vikings and Uí Ímair dynasty in Ireland and the Irish king Brian Boru's great war against them, beginnin ...

'' names the only other known King of Ressad as the otherwise unknown Flaithrí mac Allamarain, but who is said to belong to the 10th century like Donnubán and may have preceded him. The author of ''CGG'' states he was one of the Munster kings slain by

Ivar of Limerick Ivar of Limerick ( ga, Ímar Luimnich, rí Gall; Ímar ua Ímair; Ímar Ua hÍmair, Ard Rí Gall Muman ocus Gáedel; Íomhar Mór; non, Ívarr ; died 977), was the last Norse king of the city-state of Limerick, and penultimate ''King of the Fo ...

circa 967 before the

Battle of Sulcoit The Battle of Sulcoit was fought in the year 968 between the Gaelic Ireland, Irish of the Dál gCais, led by Brian Boru, and the Vikings of Limerick, led by Ivar of Limerick. It was a victory for the Dál gCais and marked the end of Norse expan ...

. Notably Donnubán was Ivar's ally, and is said to have been his son-in-law, but none of this is specifically associated with Ressad in the passage. Finally, whether related to Ress/Ressad or not, there is also a Flann Ressach in one of the Uí Cairbre (ancestral to O'Donovan and other families) pedigrees preserved in the Book of Glendalough (this particular entry having been copied from the lost Psalter of Cashel).

Reerasta Rath

It is possible that the

Ráth Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

called ''Reerasta'', where was found the internationally famous

Ardagh Chalice The Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. Found in 1868 by two young local boys, Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan, it is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. I ...

(Hoard) in western County Limerick, is a corruption of ''Rí Ressad''.Bhreathnach

Notes

References

* *

Edel Bhreathnach Edel Bhreathnach is an Irish historian and academic and former CEO of the Discovery Programme. Bhreathnach was a Tara Research Fellow for the Discovery Programme from 1992 to 2000. In 2005 she was appointed Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Mícheál � ...

, "The cultural and political milieu of the deposition and manufacture of the hoard discovered at Reerasta Rath, Ardagh, Co. Limerick", in Mark Redknap (ed.), ''Pattern and Purpose in Insular Art''. Oxbow Books. 2001. * Vernam Hull (tr.), "Conall Corc and the Corco Luigde", in ''Proceedings of the Modern Language Association 62'' (1947): 887–909 * Paul MacCotter, ''Colmán of Cloyne: A Study''. Dublin:

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

. 1994. * Paul MacCotter, ''Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions''. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2008. *

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.)
"Conall Corc and the Corcu Luigde (Laud 610)"
in ''Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts III''. Dublin: Hodges & Figgis. 1910. pp. 57–63 * William O'Brien, Nick Hogan & James O'Driscoll, "Archaeological Investigations at Ballylin Hillfort, Co. Limerick", in ''North Munster Antiquarian Journal'', Vol. 56, 2016. *

James Henthorn Todd James Henthorn Todd (23 April 1805 – 28 June 1869) was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Prote ...