Síol Anmchadha was a sub-kingdom or lordship of Uí Maine, and ruled by an offshoot of the Uí Maine called the Síol Anmchadha (''"the seed of Anmchadh"''), from whom the territory took its name. It was located in Connacht,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

At its largest extent, the Kings of Síol Anmchadha ruled all the land on the west shore of

Lough Derg (Shannon) Lough Derg, historically Lough Dergart ( ga, Loch Deirgeirt), is a freshwater lake in the Shannon River Basin, Ireland. It is the third-biggest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Neagh and Lough Corrib). It is a long, narrow lake, with sh ...

as far south as

Thomond Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nenag ...

; the land between the Shannon and Suck rivers; and a corridor of land, known as Lusmagh, across the Shannon in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

, in the direction of Birr. The ruling dynasty later took the surname Ó Madadháin, anglicised as Maddan or Madden. In the later medieval era they were sometime vassals of the Earls of Ulster and their successors, The

Clanricarde Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Te ...

Legacy

In 1651, after the area had been incorporated into the Kingdom of Ireland, land belonging to the Madden, Kelly, Burke and other families was appropriated during the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland w ...

. In particular, the English brothers John Eyre and Edward Eyre took much land. "

Eyrecourt Eyrecourt, historically known as Donanaghta (), is a village in County Galway, Ireland. Eyrecourt is on the R356 regional road 12 km west of the Banagher bridge over the River Shannon. History The Eyres after whom the village is named, ...

" in the area is named after them (it was originalled called ''Dún an Uchta'') and their descendant became

Baron Eyre Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

. The name Síol Anmchadha survives to the present day in the placename Baile Mór Síol Anmchadha, the

Irish language Irish (an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages, Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European lang ...

version of Lawrencetown,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Local placenames

Tynagh Tynagh () is a village and electoral division in south-east County Galway in Ireland. Origin of the name Recorded as ''Tyneaach'' (1565), ''Teacneaghe'' (1543), ''Theaneac'' (1541), its current name is a contraction of Teach nEachach, 'Eochu's ...

Portumna Portumna ( - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where the River Shanno ...

Woodford, County Galway Woodford () is a village in the south-east of County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated between the River Shannon and the Slieve Aughty mountains. History The village's industrial history is indicated by a variant of its Iris ...

References

* ''O'Madáin: History of the O'Maddens of Hy-Many'',

Gerard Madden Gerard Madden is a native of Whitegate, County Clare, and is the author of a number of books dealing with the ancestry of Irish families, including the Maddens of County Galway. References *Holy Island, Jewel of the Lough, 1990, reprinted 1996 ...

, 2004. . * ''The Colahans - A Remarkable Galway Family'', Diarmuid Ó Cearbhaill, Journal of the

Galway Archaeological and Historical Society The Galway Archaeological and Historical Society was founded on 21 March 1900, at the Railway Hotel, Galway. It promotes the study of the archaeology and history of the west of Ireland. Since 1900, the Society has published 70 volumes of the '' ...

, volume 54, 2002, pp. 121–140. * ''Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions'', Paul MacCotter, Four Courts Press, 2008, pp. 133–134.

External links

* https://archive.org/stream/tribescustomsofh00odonuoft/tribescustomsofh00odonuoft_djvu.txt History of County Galway Connacht Geography of County Galway Kingdoms of medieval Ireland {{Galway-geo-stub

History

Legacy

Local placenames

See also

References

External links