Darini - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Darini (manuscript variant: Darnii [Δάρνιοι]) were a people of ancient Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

's 2nd century Geography as living in south Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

and north Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

. Their name implies descent from an ancestor called Dáire (*Dārios), as claimed by several historical peoples, including the Dál Riata

Dál Riata

Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...

and Dál Fiatach

Dál Fiatach

The Dál Fiatach were a group of related dynasties located in eastern Ulster in the Early Christian and Early Medieval periods of the history of Ireland.-Description:...

in the same area of eastern Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

as well the Érainn (Iverni

Iverni

The Iverni were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis in their territory, and observes that this settlement has the same name as the island as a whole, Ivernia...

) of Munster

Munster

Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...

. An early name for Dundrum, County Down

Dundrum, County Down

Dundrum is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside Newcastle on the A2 road. The town is best known for its ruined Norman castle. It had a population of 1,065 people in the 2001 Census....

, is recorded as Dún Droma Dáirine, and the name Dáirine
Dáirine
The Dáirine , later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They appear to have derived from the Darini of Ptolemy and to have been related to the Ulaid and Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland...

was applied to the Érainn dynasty of the Corcu Loígde

Corcu Loígde

The Corcu Loígde , meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centered in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Munster, the Dáirine, of whom they were the principal royal sept...

(as descendants of Dáire Doimthech

Dáire Doimthech

Dáire Doimthech, alias Dáire Sírchréchtach, son of Sithbolg, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland, and eponymous ancestor of the proto-historical Dáirine and historical Corcu Loígde of Munster. A son of his was Lugaid Loígde , an ancestor of Lugaid Mac Con...

), further suggesting a relationship between the Darini and the Iverni.

The cognate Dari(o) ("agitation, tumult, rage") is a form widely attested in the Gaulish language

Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...

, especially in personal names. An example from the Welsh language

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

is cynddaredd ("rage"). Thus the Darini may have been considered a people "of great violence", or descendants of a "God of Tumult". Over time, however, the Irish personal name Dáire would develop the meaning of "rutty" or "violently horny" ("fruitful"), apparently following a meaning of "bestial rage".

It is worth noting that Dáirine

Dáirine

The Dáirine , later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They appear to have derived from the Darini of Ptolemy and to have been related to the Ulaid and Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland...

can sometimes refer to the so-called Érainn dynasties altogether and not only to the Corcu Loídge and their corelatives in Munster.

Cú Roí mac Dáire is a god or king from Munster who appears frequently in the Ulster Cycle

Ulster Cycle

The Ulster Cycle , formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...

of Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

, possibly reflecting memories of the prehistoric Darini when their power was great in Ireland. The Dál Fiatach of Ulster later claimed descent from his semi-divine clan, the Clanna Dedad, further associating the two provinces—although seemingly in contradiction to their descent from the Ulaid

Ulaid

The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a people of early Ireland who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster...

or Voluntii proper, until it is remembered that the Darini and Voluntii lived adjacent to one another in Ptolemy's Ireland and were no doubt ancient kin. Cú Roí's father was Dáire mac Dedad

Dáire mac Dedad

Dáire mac Dedad is the eponymous ancestor of the Dáirine of Munster and father of the legendary Cú Roí mac Dáire. These further associate him with the prehistoric Darini of Ulster. He is probably identical with Dáire Doimthech , an ancestor of the Corcu Loígde...

. The Clanna Dedad take their name from his grandfather, Deda mac Sin

Deda mac Sin

Deda mac Sin was a prehistoric king of the Érainn of Ireland, possibly of the 1st century BC. Variant forms or spellings include Dedu, Dedad, and Dega...

.

The legendary Conaire Mór

Conaire Mor

Conaire Mór , son of Eterscél, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His mother was Mess Búachalla, who was either the daughter of Eochu Feidlech and Étaín, or of Eochu Airem and his daughter by Étaín...

, ancestor of the Síl Conairi

Síl Conairi

The Síl Conairi or "Seed of Conaire" were those Érainn septs of the legendary Clanna Dedad descended from the monarch Conaire Mór, son of Eterscél Mór, a descendant of Deda mac Sin, namely the Dál Riata, Múscraige, Corcu Duibne, and Corcu Baiscinn.The Dál Riata, presumably settling in far...

, or Dál Riata, Múscraige

Múscraige

The Múscraighe were an important Érainn people of Munster, descending from Cairpre Músc, son of Conaire Cóem, a High King of Ireland. Closely related were the Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, both of Munster, and also the Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland, all being referred to as the Síl Conairi in...

, Corco Duibne, and Corca Baiscinn, was said to descend from Íar mac Dedad

Íar mac Dedad

Íar mac Dedad was a legendary King of Munster. He is the father, or in some sources more distant ancestor, of Eterscél Mór, and grandfather of the famous Conaire Mór, both High Kings of Ireland....

, brother of Dáire. This is simply another variant of the root present in Iverni/Érainn. Finally, the name Íth, given in the genealogies as the ultimate ancestor of the Corcu Loígde (Dáirine) and offering some confusion about their parentage and relation to the Iverni, in fact preserves the same Indo-European root *peiH- ("to be fat, swell"), thus in effect completing a basic picture of the Darini/Dáirine and their kindred in later historical Ireland.

Modern descendants

In addition to a number of Scottish clan

Scottish clan

Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...

s, as well as the British Royal Family

Genealogy of the British Royal Family

The recorded genealogy of the British Royal Family traces back to the early Middle Ages. Although there is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the Royal Family, and different lists will include different people, those carrying the style His or Her Majesty or His or...

(through the House of Dunkeld

House of Dunkeld

The so-called House of Dunkeld, in Scottish Gaelic Dùn Chailleann , is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the clear succession of Scottish kings from 1034 to 1040 and from 1058 to 1290.It is dynastically sort of a continuation to Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata, "race of...

), several Irish kindreds of note, in the provinces of Ulster and Munster, trace their origins either among the Darini/Dáirine proper or peoples closely related to them. These include the Haughey

Haughey

Haughey is an Irish surname. Spelling variations include: Hoey, McCaughey and McKeogh, among others. Modern spelling comes from the original Ó hEochaidh.The Haugheys are descendants of the ancient Dál Fiatach dynasty, rulers of the Ulaid...

/Hoey

Hoey

Hoey is an Irish surname. Spelling variations include: Haughey, McCaughey and McKeogh, among others. Modern spelling comes from the original Ó hEochaidh.The Hoeys are descendants of the ancient Dál Fiatach dynasty, rulers of the Ulaid...

of Dál Fiatach, and the O'Driscoll

Óengus Bolg

Óengus Bolg, son of Lugaid, son of Mac Nia, son of Mac Con, son of Lugaid Loígde, son of Dáire Doimthech, was a king of the Corcu Loígde, and an ancestor of the Eóganachta "inner circle" through his daughter Aimend, married to Conall Corc...

and O'Leary

O'Leary

O'Leary is an Irish name, an anglicized version of the original Gaelic patronym Ó Laoghaire or Ó Laoire.The Uí Laoghaire clan, today associated with the Uibh Laoghaire parish in County Cork, is considered by scholars to have originated on the south-west coast, in the area of Ros Ó gCairbre , of...

of Corcu Loígde.

In Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, the House of Neville

House of Neville

The House of Neville is a noble house of early medieval origin, which was a leading force in English politics in the later middle ages...

claim kinship with the House of Dunkeld, and thus descent from the Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata. The Clan MacKenzie

Clan MacKenzie

Clan Mackenzie is a Highland Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire.-Origins:The Mackenzies, a powerful clan of Celtic stock, were not among the clans that originated from Norman ancestry. Descendants of the long defunct royal Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, they...

and Clan Maclean

Clan MacLean

Clan Maclean is a Highland Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early MacLeans became famous for their honour, strength and courage in battle. They were involved in many clan skirmishes with...

are among those who claim descent from the rival Cenél Loairn.

Modern descendants

Further reading