The O’Malleys (0 Maille) were a great sea-power around Clew Bay in County Mayo. Their territory was coextensive with the baronies of Burrishoole and Murresk on the west coast of County Mayo. Their leading men were often famous as naval commanders, and the clan always had a considerable fleet under their power, an unusual occurrence in Ireland, even among coastal families. The O’Malleys were known to literature as the Manannans, or "sea-gods" of the Western Ocean, and many tales tell of their prowess. There appears to have been a branch of the family settled before the sixteenth century in the Limerick area, as lords of Tuath Luimnigh.

The Uaithni
The Uaithni were located in County Galway in prehistoric times, but later came to inhabit the northeast of County Limerick and the adjoining part of County Tipperary. In historical times the tribe is represented by the O’Heffernans.

The O’I-Ieffernans (0 hlfearna in) were anciently the chiefs of UaithneCliach, now the barony of Owneybeg, in the east of County Limerick. They were dispossessed by the O’Mulryans in the fourteenth century, but families of the name are still very numerous in Limerick and Tipperary.

The Ui Bairrche
The Ui Bairrche were originally from South Wexford, in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, but they were driven from this territory by the Laigin of Ui Ceinnsealaigh, and the main body settled among their allies among the northern Laigin, mainly in the area of the barony of Slievemargy in the southeastern corner of Leix and the adjoining portions of Carlow and Kilkenhy. Their chief representatives in historical times are the OTracys and MacGormans.

The MacGormans (Mac Gormain) were, prior to the Anglo-Norman invasion, lords of Ui Bairrche. Soon afterwards, however, they were driven from this territory and settled in Monaghan and Glare. The Glare branch became very numerous, and their chiefs became marshalls (military commanders) under the O’Briens. The form O’Gorman is now used by some who have resumed the use of Gaelic prefixes, however, MacGorman is the proper form.

The Ui Fidhgheinte
The Ui Fidhghe late were originally located in the west of County Limerick, where they were settled as allies of the Eoghanacht, coming later to be regarded asabranch of that tribe, of whom they were twice kings (in 796 and 909). Their chief septs in the later Middle Ages were the O’Cullanes, O’Kinneallys, O’Donovans and MacEnerys.

The Ui Conaill Gabhra were a clan anciently residing in the south Limerick baronies of Upper and Lower Connelloe, Shanid and Glenquin. Their modern representatives are the O’Cullanes and O’Kinneallys. The O’Cullanes (0 Cuileain) , originally lords of Connelloe, were driven out of this territory and settled in southwest Cork near their O’Donovan kinsmen. The O’Kinneallys (0 Cinnfhaolaidh) were originally settled in the present baronies of Upper and Lowet Connelloe in south Limerick, but soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion, they were dispossessed of their lands by the Fitzgeralds and others, and are afterwards found settled in West Limerick and Kerry.

The O’Donovans (0 Donnabhain) were the chiefs of the Ui Cairbre Aedhbha, a clan which included as well the MacEnerys. The principal stronghold of the O’Donovans was at Bruree. About 1178 they were driven from this territory and subsequently settled in southwest Cork, where they wrested a territory from the O’Driscolls of Corca Laoighdhe with the aid of their old allies, the Eoghanacht O’Mahonys. To this territory they gave their clan name of Ui Cairbre, retaining considerable power and land in this new quarter down to the close of the Jacobite wars in the late seventeenth century. Branches settled in Wexford and Kilkenny. The MacEnerys (Mac Inneirghe) were anciently chiefs of Corcomohid, in the barony of Upper Connelloe, in the south of County Limerick. They had a castle at Castletown MacEniry, the ruins of which remain to this day. Although their territory was eroded by the encroachment of the Anglo-Normans after the twelfth century, the MacEnerys retained a considerable portion of their patrimony down to the revolution of 1688.

The Ulaid
The Ulaid were the great Erainnian people who gave their name to Ulster, and it is they who are celebrated in the Ulster Cycle. Their direct royal representatives in historical times were the Dal bhFiatach of County Down, but they also encompassed the Ui Duach and Dal Riada as well.

The DaL Riada were originally a tribe of North Antrim in Ireland, but from as early as the third century, and especially during the late fifth century there had been a steady settlement of the adjacent coastal and island areas of Scotland by these Dal Riada Scots. This area, which became the Scottish part of the greater tribal kingdom of Dal Riada, was separated from the rest of Scotland by mountains. The Scottish part of the tribal kingdom of Dal Riada was known as Argyll which means "coastland of the Gaels," for by this time the population of Ireland had long been Gaelic-speaking, and the Dal Riada considered themselves to be Gaels in the general sense, though nonetheless Erainn in the context of ethno-dynastic politics. About A.D. 500 the kings of Dal Riada took up permanent residence in the Argyle, and with the coming of the Vikings in the ninth century, the tribe, by then centered in Argyle, was cut off from their Irish collateral kinsmen in Antrim, the O’Quins of Antrim, who declined in power after the Anglo-Norman invasion. The chief kindreds of the Dal Riada of Argyle, the Cineal Loairn and the Cineal nGabrain, soon spread into much of Scotland with the uniting of their kingdom and the Kingdom of the Picts (Chapter IV).

The Cineal Loairn derive their descent from Loam, son of Erc, a king of Dal Riada in the fifth century. They originally inhabited the present districts of Loin (named for them) and Mull, with the adjacent mainland and island territory to the north and west. This territory comprised the northern part of Scottish Dal Riada, and when the time came for expansion, the Cineal Loairn migrated up the Great Glen. The chief kindred branches of the Cineal Loaimn were the Clann Duibhne, or Cam pbells, the MacGillivrays and Maclnneses, the Cineal Baodan, or MacLeans, the MacNaughtens, the MacNabs, the Clan Chattan, and the Carnerons, MacGillonies, MacMartins and MacSorleys.

The Clann Duibhne or Campbells (Caimbeul), the most powerful clan in Argyle and one of the most powerful in Scotland, descend from the issue of the thirteenth century marriage between Sir Gillespie Campbell and the heiress of Duncan Mac Duibhne of Lochawe. Thus did the Campbells inherit the leadership of the Clann Duibhne, whose name they retained notwith-standing the fact that they, like the Galbraiths of Loch Lomond, were by origin Strathclyde Britons from around Dunbarton, where they were still important to the end of the thirteenth century. Ethnically these Strathclyde Britons were Laiginian, being descended from a Dumnonian influx from Ireland (see Chapter III). The senior line of the Campbells, descended from Sir Gillespic’s older brother Duncan, were the MacArthurs (Clann Artair) of Loch Fyne and Lochawe. The MacArthurs lost power after their chief, lain MacArthur, "a great prince among his own people and leader of a thousand men," was beheaded by the Stewart King James I in 1427. Afterwards they lived under the protection of their Campbell kinsmen. As for the Campbells themselves, they rose to preeminence in Argyle under royal patronage following the downfall of the MacDonalds’ Lordship of the Isles. The chief of the Lochawe line, the main stem of the family, was created Duke of Argyle in 1457. The Campbells of Glenorchy, later Earls of Breadalbane (1681), descend from the grandson of Sir Gillespie, while those who inherited Cawdor (in Moray) descend from the third son of the second Earl of Argyle. The Campbells became infamous for their political pragmatism, which led them to commit acts of brutality and treachery against neighboring clans, notably the MacGregors and the MacDonalds of Glencoe.

The MacGillivrays (Mac Giolla Bhratha) and Maclnneses (Mac Aonghuis) are of the same stock, and akin to the Clann Duibhne. The original territory of the MacGillivrays was in Morven and Lochaber, in the north of the original Cineal Loairn territory. In the thirteenth century, after political upheavals weakened the power of the Lords of the Isles in the area, most of the MacGillivrays joined the Clan Chattan confederacy, and by 1500 had moved into Strathnairn. Those that remained in Morven followed the MacLeans, the Mull branch being principal among these. The Maclnneses seem to have traditionally been the constables of the castle of Kinlochaline, originally under the MacDonalds, but later, about 1600, under the MacKenzies. However, they usually followed their kinsmen, the Campbells.

The Cineal Baodan, or MacLeans (Mac Giolla Eoin) descend from Baodan, great-grandson of Loarn, king of Dal Riada. The clan was originally settled in Morvern, where they gave their name to a district, and one of their early ancestors was abbot of the nearby Isle of Lismore. In later times they migrated up the Great Glen into Moray, and later still, about 1160, they were one of several clans transferred to the Scone area (Tayside in Perthshire) by Malcolm IV. Their eponymous ancestor was Gillean (Giolla Eoin) of the Battleaxe, who lived during the reign of Alexander III (1249—1283), and fought at the Battle of Largs in 1263. Gillemoir MacLyn of Perthshire, son of Gillean, settled in Loin, and his son, a supporter of Robert Bruce, was named "Malise," which was the favorite name of the earls of Strathearn (Perthshire) at that time, and almost unique to them. Malise’s grandson, Ian Dhu MacLean, settled in Mull, and was the father of Lachlan Lubanach, progenitor of the MacLeans of Duart,

the chief family of the clan. He was also father of Eachin Reganach, progenitor of the MacLaines of Lochbuie, and the MacLaines disputed the chiefship with the Duart branch on the claim that Eachin was elder to Lachlan, though the chiefship was settled on the Duart branch by tanistry. Both of these brothers lived in the reign of Robert II. The clan held wide power in the Hebrides, as allies of the MacDonalds, under the Lord of the Isles. One of Eachin’s Sons, Charles MacLean, settled in Glen Urquhart, in Moray, and was the founder of the Clann Thearlaich, also known as the MacLeans of the North. The Clann Thearlaich joined the Clan Chattan confederacy (see below) about 1460, but nonetheless appealed to MacLean of Duart, as their hereditary chief, for protection against harassment by the Chisholms. The Duart chief recognized their rights as clansmen, and forced the Chisholms to desist.

The Clan Chattan (Clann Chatain) was a confederation of clans in the Moray areas of Lochaber, Strathnairn and Badenoch. The main stem of the clan included the MacPhersons, Davidsons, MacBeans or MacBains, Cattanachs, and by inheritance, the MacKintoshes. These clans were joined by others, of different origin, who at various times applied for protection of the MacKintosh chiefs, who were also captains, or high chiefs, of the Clan Chattan confederation. These included the MacGillivrays, Maclntyres, MacLeans, MacQueens, MacAndrews, and others.

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