Laidcenn mac Bairchid, or Laidcenn mac Bairceda, is said to have been an early Irish language

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, whose floruit

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

, if he existed, may have fallen in the middle of the 5th century.

According to later glosses, he belonged to the Cruthin

Cruthin

The Cruthin were a people of early Ireland, who occupied parts of Counties Down, Antrim and Londonderry in the early medieval period....

 of Dál nAraidi

Dál nAraidi

Dál nAraidi was a kingdom of the Cruthin in the north-east of Ireland in the first millennium. The lands of the Dál nAraidi appear to correspond with the Robogdii of Ptolemy's Geographia, a region shared with Dál Riata...

 in 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...

, a claim which may well be incorrect. A poem on the Kings of Leinster

Kings of Leinster

The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...

 included in the Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae is attributed to him, but Kuno Meyer

Kuno Meyer

Kuno Meyer was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I while traveling in the United States was a source of controversy.-Biography:...

 considered the attribution to be certainly false and the poem is dated to the 7th century.

Laidcenn's poem, if indeed it is his, provides a very different list of kings to that contained in the Book of Leinster

Book of Leinster

The Book of Leinster , is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18...

, probably intended to support the claims of the Uí Bairrche

Uí Bairrche

Uí Bairrche was an Irish kin-based group that originally held lands in the south of the ancient province of Leinster . Another south Leinster kin group associated with the Uí Bairrche were groups of the Fothairt. The south of Leinster was dominated by the Uí Chennselaig in the 8th century...

 to the primacy in Leinster.

Book of Leinster	Laidcenn's poem
Bresal Bélach, common ancestor of Uí Cheinnselaig Uí Cheinnselaig The Uí Ceinnselaig , from the Old Irish "grandsons of Cennsalach", are an Irish dynasty of Leinster who trace their descent from Énnae Cennsalach, a supposed contemporary of Niall of the Nine Hostages...  and Uí Dúnlainge Uí Dúnlainge The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ancestor of the rival Uí Chennselaig.... , grandson of Catháer Már	Bresal Bélach
Énnae Cennsalach Énnae Cennsalach Énnae Cennsalach was a King of Leinster and founder of the Uí Cheinnselaig sept of the Laigin. He was the grandson of Bressal Bélach , a previous king.The chronology of Leinster kings in the 5th century is contradictory... , grandson of Bresal, eponym of the Uí Cheinnselaig	Muiredach Mo Sníthech, son of Daire Barrach eponym of the Uí Bairrche, grandson of Catháer Már
Crimthann Crimthann mac Énnai Crimthann mac Énnai was a King of Leinster from the Uí Cheinnselaig sept of the Laigin. He was the son of Énnae Cennsalach, the ancestor of this dynasty....  son of Énnae Cennsalach	Móenach son of Muiredach Mo Sníthech
Fráech mac Finchada Fráech mac Finchada Fráech mac Finchada or Fróech mac Findchado was a king of Leinster. Fráech was a member of the Dál Messin Corb dynasty's principal sub-sept, the Uí Garrchon. He succeeded his father, Fincath mac Garrchu, . He ruled from 485 to 495....  of the Uí Garrchon Uí Garrchon The Uí Garrchon were the principal sub-sept of the Dál Messin Corb, who were the ruling dynasty of Leinster, Ireland for much of the fifth century. Their main opponents outside of Leinster were the nascent Uí Néill... , not a descendant of Catháer Már	Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth of the Uí Enechglaiss, King of Leinster, died 446?/530?.-Background:Mac Cairthinn is one of the very earliest verifiable Irish kings. Though not listed in any extant Irish genealogies, the Annals of Innisfallen record his death at the battle of Mag Femen in the kingdom of... , great-grandson of Catháer Már
Illan, son of Dúnlaing eponym of the Uí Dúnlainge, fifth generation descendant of Catháer Már	Nad Buidb, grandson of Daig eponym of the Uí Dega, sixth generation descendant of Catháer Már