Ireland’s High Kings (Ard Rí Érenn) were the over-kings who claimed authority over the whole island. Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid, who took the title in 846, is usually counted as the first true High King. Brian Boru, crowned in 1002, was the first to win it from outside the Uí Néill dynasty. The last was Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor), who submitted to Henry II of England in 1175.
High Kings at a glance
- Irish title: Ard Rí Érenn, “High King of Ireland”; earlier, King of Tara
- Symbolic seat: the Hill of Tara, County Meath
- First reliably historical High King: Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid, from 846
- Most famous: Brian Boru, 1002 to 1014
- Last: Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, from 1166 until his submission to Henry II in 1175
- Y-37: shows whether your paternal line fits a known royal pattern, such as Irish Type III (R-L226) for Brian Boru’s kindred.
- Big Y-700: places you on a specific branch of the tree, the test that project administrators recommend.
- Family Finder: covers all your family lines, not just the male line, and finds cousins from the last five or six generations. Women can take it too.
- Free projects: once tested, join your surname project and the haplogroup project for your branch to compare results.
What was a High King of Ireland?
Medieval Ireland was a patchwork of more than a hundred small kingdoms, grouped under provincial kings in Munster, Leinster, Connacht, Ulster and Meath. A High King was the king who could force the others to recognise him as overlord, usually by taking hostages and tribute from them. He did not rule a unified state or run a central government. The title was only as strong as the army behind it.
Medieval writers later projected the high kingship back into the distant past, with a list of kings stretching to the legendary invasions of Ireland. Historians treat kings before the 5th century as legendary, and most doubt that any king truly dominated the whole island before the 9th century. That is why the list below starts in earnest in 846.
Kings of Tara: the early Uí Néill
From the 5th to the 9th century, the most powerful title in Ireland was King of Tara. It was dominated by the Uí Néill, the descendants of Niall Noígíallach, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Niall is generally thought to have been a real king of the late 4th or early 5th century, though his story is wrapped in legend. His son Lóegaire is the king of Tara who appears in the stories of St Patrick.
Over the following centuries the kingship passed between rival Uí Néill branches, most often between the northern Cenél nEógain and the southern Clann Cholmáin of Meath. Diarmait mac Cerbaill is remembered as the last king to celebrate the great inauguration feast of Tara, in 560. By the time Niall Caille drowned in 846, the northern and southern branches had settled into taking the kingship in turn.
List of the High Kings of Ireland, 846 to 1022
Dates are the years given in the Irish annals. Published lists sometimes differ by a year or two.
| High King | Reign | Dynasty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid (Máel Sechnaill I) | 846 to 862 | Southern Uí Néill (Clann Cholmáin) | Often called the first true High King. Fought the Vikings across the midlands. |
| Áed Findliath | 862 to 879 | Northern Uí Néill (Cenél nEógain) | Cleared Viking bases from the north coast. |
| Flann Sinna | 879 to 916 | Southern Uí Néill (Clann Cholmáin) | Named on the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise. |
| Niall Glúndub | 916 to 919 | Northern Uí Néill (Cenél nEógain) | Killed fighting the Dublin Norse in 919. The O’Neill surname comes from him. |
| Donnchad Donn | 919 to 944 | Southern Uí Néill (Clann Cholmáin) | Son of Flann Sinna. |
| Congalach Cnogba | 944 to 956 | Southern Uí Néill (Síl nÁedo Sláine) | Killed by the Leinstermen and the Dublin Norse. |
| Domnall ua Néill | 956 to 980 | Northern Uí Néill (Cenél nEógain) | Grandson of Niall Glúndub. |
| Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (Máel Sechnaill II) | 980 to 1002 | Southern Uí Néill (Clann Cholmáin) | Defeated the Dublin Norse at Tara in 980. Submitted to Brian Boru in 1002. |
| Brian Boru (Brian Bóruma) | 1002 to 1014 | Dál gCais (Munster) | The first High King from outside the Uí Néill. Killed at Clontarf. |
| Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (restored) | 1014 to 1022 | Southern Uí Néill (Clann Cholmáin) | Took back the title after Brian’s death. Often called the last undisputed High King. |
High Kings “with opposition”, 1022 to 1175
After Máel Sechnaill II died in 1022, no king held the title unchallenged. The annalists began calling the strongest kings rí Érenn co fressabra, “king of Ireland with opposition”. These were the provincial kings who came closest.
| King | Died | Dynasty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donnchad mac Briain | 1064 | Dál gCais (Munster) | Brian Boru’s son. Died on pilgrimage in Rome. |
| Diarmait mac Máel na mBó | 1072 | Uí Cheinnselaig (Leinster) | The first Leinster king to claim the title in centuries. |
| Toirdelbach Ua Briain (Turlough O’Brien) | 1086 | Dál gCais (Munster) | Brian Boru’s grandson, who rebuilt the family’s power. |
| Muirchertach Ua Briain (Murtagh O’Brien) | 1119 | Dál gCais (Munster) | Gave the Rock of Cashel to the Church in 1101. Ancestor of the Clare MacMahons. |
| Domnall Ua Lochlainn | 1121 | Northern Uí Néill (Cenél nEógain) | Muirchertach Ua Briain’s great northern rival. |
| Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair (Turlough O’Connor) | 1156 | Uí Briúin (Connacht) | The dominant king of his age, and father of the last High King. |
| Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn | 1166 | Northern Uí Néill (Cenél nEógain) | The last northern High King. |
| Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor) | 1198 | Uí Briúin (Connacht) | High King from 1166. Submitted to Henry II in 1175. |
Brian Boru: the High King from outside
For more than four centuries the title had stayed within the Uí Néill. Brian Boru broke that pattern. He came from the Dál gCais, a minor family from around Killaloe in County Clare, fought his way to the kingship of Munster in 978 and forced Máel Sechnaill II to submit in 1002. In 1005 he had himself recorded in the Book of Armagh as “Imperator Scotorum”, emperor of the Irish.
His real legacy was the idea that the high kingship could be won by any king strong enough to take it. For the next 150 years, his own descendants, the O’Briens, competed for it with the O’Connors of Connacht and the Mac Lochlainns of the north. Read the full story of Brian Boru’s life and reign and how he died at the Battle of Clontarf.
Who was the last High King of Ireland?
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, became High King in 1166. Within three years Anglo-Norman knights landed in Ireland at the invitation of the exiled King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, and in 1171 Henry II arrived in person. By the Treaty of Windsor in 1175, Ruaidrí accepted Henry as his overlord in return for keeping the lands outside Anglo-Norman control. He later retired to the abbey at Cong and died in 1198. He is buried at Clonmacnoise.
Two later claims are worth knowing. Brian Ua Néill was proclaimed High King by a group of Irish kings in 1258 and was killed at the Battle of Down in 1260. Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce of Scotland, was crowned High King in 1316 and killed at Faughart in 1318. Neither won wide acceptance, so Ruaidrí is the last High King in the usual reckoning.
Where were the High Kings crowned?
The Hill of Tara in County Meath was the symbolic seat of the high kingship, and its standing stone, the Lia Fáil, was said to roar when the rightful king touched it. In practice few High Kings lived there. Brian Boru ruled from Kincora in Killaloe, and the O’Connors from Connacht. Provincial kings had their own inauguration sites, such as Magh Adhair in Clare, where the MacNamaras presided over the inauguration of the O’Brien kings.
To see the royal sites, visit Tara itself, which is free and open year round, and the Rock of Cashel, the seat of the Munster kings. Book a private Rock of Cashel tour from Dublin, or plan your own route with our Brian Boru trail.
Descendants of the High Kings today
Several of Ireland’s best-known surnames come straight from these kings:
- O’Neill: from Niall Glúndub, killed in 919.
- O’Brien: from Brian Boru. The Clare MacMahons and the Considines also descend from his line.
- O’Connor (Ua Conchobair): the Connacht dynasty of Toirdelbach and Ruaidrí.
- McLoughlin: two separate families, the Mac Lochlainns of the north and the Ó Maoilsheachlainn (O’Melaghlin) descendants of Máel Sechnaill in Meath.
A surname is only a clue, since names changed hands over a thousand years. Y-DNA is the test that links a paternal line to a royal kindred. For Brian Boru’s family, the marker to look for is R-L226. The Uí Néill have long been linked to the marker M222, once billed as the “Niall of the Nine Hostages” signature, though geneticists now see that link as looser than first claimed. A Y-37 test is the first step, and Big Y-700 places you on a specific branch. Our Brian Boru descendants and DNA guide explains what the results can prove, and the Dál gCais surnames list covers the wider kindred.
Further reading
- Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Ireland before the Normans: the clearest short account of how Irish kingship worked. Check price on Amazon.
- Seán Duffy, Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf: the best book on the most famous High King. Check price on Amazon.
More titles are in our guide to the best books about Brian Boru.
Frequently asked questions
Who was the first High King of Ireland?
Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid, who reigned from 846 to 862, is usually counted as the first true High King. Earlier names on the traditional lists were Kings of Tara or are legendary.
Who was the last High King of Ireland?
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor), High King from 1166. He accepted Henry II of England as overlord in the Treaty of Windsor in 1175 and died in 1198.
Was Brian Boru a High King of Ireland?
Yes. Brian Boru was High King from 1002 until his death at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, the first to hold the title from outside the Uí Néill dynasty.
Where did the High Kings of Ireland live?
Tara was the symbolic seat, but High Kings lived in their own home kingdoms. Brian Boru ruled from Kincora in Killaloe, County Clare.
Sources
- Wikipedia, List of High Kings of Ireland.
- Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Ireland before the Normans (Gill & Macmillan, 1972).