The flag of Connacht is a heraldic banner of the arms of Connacht

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west 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...

, a dimidiated

Dimidiation

In heraldry, dimidiation is a method of joining two coats of arms.For a time, dimidiation preceded the method known as impalement. Whereas impalement involves placing the whole of both coats of arms side by side in the same shield, dimidiation involves placing the dexter half of one coat of arms...

 (divided in half from top to bottom) eagle and armed hand. The arms of are recorded as such on a map of Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

 dated 1651, now in the Library

Trinity College Library, Dublin

Trinity College Library Dublin, the centrally-administered library of Trinity College, Dublin, is the largest library in Ireland. As a "copyright library", it has legal deposit rights for material published in the Republic of Ireland; it is also the only Irish library to hold such rights for the...

 of Trinity College, Dublin.

These arms closely resemble those of the Schottenkloster or Irish monastery founded in Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

, Bavaria in the 11th century. However, it is unclear how the arms of Schottenkloster located deep in the heart of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 came to be associated with the province of Connacht in Ireland. A possible, though unlikely, answer to the problem can be found in Vatican Ms 11000 which contains a necrology of prominent Irish ecclesiastics and political rulers whose obituaries were recorded locally, apparently on the basis of their being substantial benefactors of the Schottenkloster at Regensburg. In the section of the aforementioned necrology headed ‘KINGS’, the initial entry relates to Donnchadh and Domhnall MacCarthy, rulers of Desmond

Desmond

Desmond may refer to:*Desmond , a common given name and surname* Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom* Earl of Desmond, Irish aristocratic title* Desmond Rebellions, Irish rebellions during the 16th century led by the Earl of Desmond...

, to whom the arms of the Schottenkloster were apparently conceded, presumably as arms of affection. If it can be assumed that the arms of the Schottenkloster were similarly conceded to the other royal benefactors noted in the necrology, then an explanation of the origins of the arms of the province of Connacht begins to emerge because the final entry in the necrology refers to Ruaidhri O Conchobhair. Ruaidhri’s connections were with Connacht where he was king, his declining years having been spent in the monastery of Cong which itself had links with certain monastic institutions in medieval imperial Germany.