Cualu or Cuala (

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

) was a territory in

Gaelic Ireland Gaelic Ireland () was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late Prehistory of Ireland, prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Norman invasi ...

south of the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

encompassing the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: '' Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Where the mountai ...

History

Edmund Hogan concludes from primary sources that it "seems to extend from

Arklow Arklow ( ; ; ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the Battle of Arklow, bloodiest battles ...

to the Liffey, and to be coextensive with he diocese of Glendaloch". The Slíghe Chualann Cualu Way"was a major road to Tara which crossed the Liffey at Ford of Hurdles" beside the later site of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

city. Henry Morris suggested, based on a story in a law tract, that the men of Cualu"had originally lived further north, in Brega around Tara, until displaced by the Ciannachta after the battle of Crionna. Among the kings of Leinster were Cellach Cualann (died 715) and Crimthann mac Áedo (died 633) who the

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (Abbreviation, abbr. AT, ) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin language, Latin and Old Irish, Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come f ...

say was "of Cualu". "Tuathal son of Cremthann, king of Cualu" died in 778. In the ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...

'', Cualu was a son of

Breogán Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gae ...

, as were the founders of three territories further north: Brega, Muirtheimhne, and Cuailgne. The legendary Medb Lethderg was daughter of Conan, king of Cualu. James MacKillop identifies the Fir Chualann with the Cauci of Ptolemy's world map. As early as 1946, T. F. O'Rahilly had also suggested a possible connection between the two. The "ale of Cuala" was the prerogative in various texts of either the

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

or the king of Leinster. In Norman times, "Fera Cualann", anglicised Fercullen, was a smaller territory than ancient Cualu, encompassing the north Wicklow Mountains and ruled by the O'Toole family, which later became the manor of Powerscourt. The Irish name for

Great Sugar Loaf Great Sugar Loaf () at , is the 404th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, however, being below 600 m it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: ...

mountain is ''Ó Cualann'' peak of Cualu" During the

Gaelic revival The Gaelic revival () was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including folklore, mythology, sports, music, arts, etc.). Irish had diminished as a sp ...

, was revived by the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

as a name for south Dublin–north Wicklow. Cuala Press was a private press founded by

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

' sisters which published works by him and colleagues. was coined as an Irish name for Bray, County Wicklow, later rejected as inauthentic by the Placenames Branch. Cuala CLG is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

club based in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...

. Ceoltóirí Chualann was a 1960s Irish traditional music ensemble named by Seán Ó Riada after its home area.

References

Sources

Citations

{{reflist History of County Wicklow History of County Dublin Medieval history of Ireland