Firceall () was an ancient Gaelic Irish territory which formed the most south - westerly part of the ancient

Kingdom of Meath Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all o ...

. O'Molloy was chieftain of the territory. Firceall itself comprised the ancient baronies of Ballycowan,

Ballyboy Ballyboy or Ballaboy () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is about two kilometres east of Kilcormac. Prior to the Plantations of Ireland, Ballyboy was ruled by O'Molloy in a territory known as Firceall which was allied to the Kingdom ...

and Eglish, which are located in modern day mid

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hon ...

extending from Durrow north of

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained ...

to Eglish on the edge of Birr in an area which is some 25 miles in length by 5 miles in width. The name Firceall comes from the Irish words ''Fir Ceala'' meaning ''Men of the Churches''.

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O'Molloy claimed descent from

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centurie ...

who ruled Tara from 380 - 405. Firceall formed land boundaries with a number of major ancient Irish Gaelic Kingdoms. A land boundary was formed with

Éile Éile (; sga, Éle, ), commonly anglicised as Ely, was a medieval petty kingdom in the southern part of the modern county of Offaly and parts of North Tipperary in Ireland. The historic barony of Eliogarty was once a significant portion of the kin ...

(Ely) of the Kingdom of Munster just east of Birr. Near Tullamore another land boundary with Uí Failghe (anglicised as Offaly) of the Kingdom of Leinster was formed. Firceall also formed a land boundary with the territory of Delvin Eathra ruled by MacCoughlan.{{Cite web, title=Molloy Omolloy Clan Rally Firceall Molloy Family Genealogy Family Tree Ancestors Offaly Ireland - Omolloy Molloy Ireland Molloys, url=http://www.omolloy.com/, access-date=2021-08-02, website=www.omolloy.com Delvin Eathra was also allied with

Meath Meath may refer to: General * County Meath, Republic of Ireland **Kingdom of Meath, medieval precursor of the county ** List of kings of Meath ** Meath GAA, including the intercounty football and hurling teams ** Diocese of Meath, in the Roman Cath ...

. Under the

Plantations of Ireland Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The Crown saw the plantations as a means of controlling, an ...

Firceall was broken up into the Baronies of Eglish, Ballyboy and Ballycowen and these were located in the then newly formed King's County which later became known as

(named after ancient territory of Uí Failghe) following Irish independence. During its existence Firceall was the location of a number of ancient abbeys and castles. The church at Lynally (near Tullamore) formed the parish church until the foundation of parish churches at Rahan, Killoughey,

, Drumcullen and Eglish. A number of known ancient abbeys were located at Drumcullen, Killyon, Kilcormac & Rahan.

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