The Expulsion of the Déisi
Encyclopedia
The Expulsion of the Déisi is a medieval Irish
narrative of the Cycles of the Kings. It dates approximately to the 8th century, but survives only in manuscripts of a much later date. It describes the fictional history of the Déisi
, a group that had gained political power in parts of Ireland during the Early Middle Ages. Part of the text's purpose is to provide the kings of the Déisi – historically the descendants of unlanded vassal
s to other tribes – with a mythical noble origin as the heirs to a dynasty expelled from Tara
.
The story survives in two different Old Irish versions, which contain essentially the same narrative supplemented by singular additions, including tangential episodes, lists of names, and poetry. After violently recovering his niece from the depredations of the king's son of Tara, Óengus Gaíbúaibthech and his followers are dispossessed by the king and sent to wander Ireland. They tarry in Leinster
for a period, but are eventually expelled from that kingdom as well. By cunning, magic, and military prowess they are able to forge a home for themselves in Munster
. As with much early Irish literature, the digressive onomastic
and genealogical material is of great value. In particular, one passage describes a Déisi branch settling in Britain
and founding the Kingdom of Dyfed
, a matter of some interest in the context of early Irish migrations to Britain.
"A" and "B". The A version dates to the 8th century, but exists only in manuscripts of a significantly later date. It survives complete in Laud MS 610 and Rawlinson MS 502, and in fragmentary form in the Book of Uí Maine and the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. Of the complete copies, Meyer notes that the Rawlinson text contains fewer errors, but that Laud preserves more archaic spelling. The B version survives in some form in three manuscripts. The oldest of these is a fragment contained in the Book of the Dun Cow; this copy is complemented by the later two, found in H. 3. 17 and H. 2. 5, allowing for reconstruction of the text. The H. 2. 5 copy further contains several poems absent from the other manuscripts.
The title is recorded variously in the manuscripts. Rawlinson contains Tairired na n'Déssi, or The Journeying of the Déisi. Laud records it as De causis torche n'Déssi/acuis toirge na n'Déssi. The word torche/toirge is obscure, but Meyer associates it with "expedition". The B manuscripts all contain some reference to the injury visited upon Cormac mac Airt
, one of the characters: the Book of the Dun Cow has Tucait innarba na n'Dési im Mumain & aided Cormaic, H. 3. 17 has Cóechad Cormaic i Temraig, and H. 2. 5 has Tucaid cháetcha Cormaic do Aengus Gaibuaibtheach & aigeag Ceallaig & fotha indarbtha na nDeissi do Muig Breag. Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville
's Catalogue further lists two possibly related titles: Longes Eithne Uathaige and Tochomlad na nDési a Temraig. However, it is unknown to which version, if either, these refer.
in Munster, the group known as the Déisi Muman were subject to the Eóganachta
dynasty. Over time, however, the Déisi Muman grew in power, and were prominent enough to found their own local kingdom from a fairly early date. Though its subject is the mythical origin of the Déisi, The Expulsion of the Déisi dates from the period after the Déisi Muman had become a significant political power.
The Expulsion of the Déisi was long considered a more or less historically accurate account of a mass displacement of the Déisi and their subsequent settlement on the southwestern coast of Ireland and elsewhere. This was later disputed by scholars such as John MacNeill, Patrick C. Power
, T. F. O'Rahilly
, and Séamus Pender, who regard it as late fiction.
, King of Tara. They follow the same narrative track, but both contain sections that break from the main narrative and tell individual, largely unrelated stories about the Déisi and their contemporaries. A contains episodes not in B, and vice versa.
to rescue her. When Conn refuses to release the girl, Óengus runs him through with his "dread spear" and blinds Cormac in one eye in the process. Because the law forbids a high king to have a physical blemish, Cormac must retire to a ráth
outside Tara, and defer the kingship to his son Cairbre Lifechair
. Undeterred, Cormac raises his forces against the Déisi and expels them from Tara. Óengus, together with his brother Brecc's sons Russ and Eogan, engages the king in seven battles. After forty days Óengus succeeds Brecc as king of the Déisi, but steps down due to "murmurs" about his consolidation of the power of both champion and king. Cormac will not give the Déisi a fair fight, and pushes them into Leinster
, where the local ruler Fiachu Bacceda drives the Uí Bairrche
from their land and gives it to the Déisi. They remain there for three decades.
Eventually the Uí Bairrche warrior Eochu Guinech ejects the Déisi and they are compelled to move further south into Ard Ladrann, thereafter known as the "Land of the Wandering Host". Section 8 tells the story of Ethne the Dread, daughter of then King of Leinster Crimthann mac Énnai
(d. 483) and an eventual fosterling of the Déisi. At her birth a druid
prophesies that under Ethne her mother's kindred will seize what will be their homeland; hearing this her parents feed her the flesh of young boys to accelerate her growth. Meanwhile, Cormac continues to harass Óengus and the Déisi, stirring up discord among their warriors and leaders. He sends a peace offer to Russ and Eogan, the sons of Brecc, offering them absolution and land if they return to his service. Óengus promises them yet more land and preeminence over his children for them to remain.
When Crimthann mac Énnai dies, his sons turn on the Déisi, driving them out of Leinster altogether. They settle briefly in Osraige
, but the king burns down their houses, leaving them homeless and forced to wander west into Munster
. They receive some relief when Óengus mac Nad Froích
(d. 489), King of Munster, proposes to marry Ethne the Dread, who has been traveling with the Déisi. He offers to grant her any three demands as the dowry. Ethne requests land for her mother's kindred, fulfilling her prophecy; she also requests that Osraig be cleared of its inhabitants and given to the Déisi, and that her people be as free as the "three Eoganacht
of Munster". Óengus grants her wishes, but the Déisi are unable to oust the residents of Osraig. With the help of Lugaid Laigde Cosc, the seer-judge of the Corcu Loígde
and Cashel
, they devise a trick: learning of a prophecy that whichever side draws first blood the next day will be routed, the Déisi druids transform one of their men into a red cow. The men of Osraig kill the cow, thereby sealing their fate; they are pushed across the Lingaun River, which thereafter serves as the border between the Déisi and Osraig. The Déisi divide up their land, and most of the remainder of the text lists names of individual Déisi and sept
s descended from them.
. Here, however, aid in exploiting the prophecy that ultimately allows them to displace the men of Osraig comes not from a seer-judge, but from the "haughty daughter" of the Osraige druid who delivers the prognostication.
Of the material not in the A version, by far the most substantial is in a lengthy tangential episode dealing with the birth and childhood of Óengus' foster son Corc Duibne, progenitor of the Corcu Duibne
, whose name is merely mentioned in A. Corc and his brother are born of incest to Coirpre Múse and Duihind, children of the king of Munster Conaire Cóem, and their nativity brings famine to the land. The people want them immolated, but Corc is saved by a druid and his wife who take him to an offshore island so that his curse is removed from Ireland. The druid's wife, Boí, performs purification rituals that ultimately transfer Corc's curse to an otherworldy white cow, allowing him to return to his family. Eventually he serves as hostage in Cormac mac Airt's court, where he is fostered by Óengus; he accompanies his foster father when he is expelled from Tara. He tries to convince the wandering Déisi to settle on the island of his rearing, and stays there when the Déisi opt to move on to Cashel.
). From Eochaid and his descendants springs the line of kings of Dyfed, whose descent is given down to "Tualodor mac Rígin" (Tudor map Regin). This genealogy has much correspondence with pedigrees in Welsh
sources, namely the Harleian genealogies
and the later genealogies from Jesus College MS 20
. The Harleian records show the same names from Tudor back to the figure Triphun, given in Expulsion as Eochaid's great-grandson. However, Harleian gives an entirely different pedigree for Triphun himself, tracing his descent back to the Roman Emperor
Constantine I
. This could be an attempt by later genealogists to give a more illustrious pedigree to Dyfed's kingly line, or possibly to obscure its Irish origins. However, it could be that Harleian preserves the older and more accurate version, and that the Expulsion version is a later textual corruption.
Regardless, there is indeed evidence of early Irish presence in Dyfed and elsewhere in Britain. Ogham
inscriptions in an early form of Irish
have been found in Pembrokeshire
and Carmarthenshire
. Additionally, later literary sources from both sides of the Irish Sea
discuss the presence of southern Irish peoples in Britain. The 9th-century Historia Brittonum, for instance, refers to the Uí Liatháin
being active in Dyfed until they were pushed out by Cunedda
and his sons (fl. mid-5th century). Cormac's Glossary also mentions the oversea exploits of the Uí Liatháin, but locates their fortress in Cornwall
rather than Dyfed. However, only The Expulsion of the Déisi attests a specifically Déisi presence. Eoin MacNeill
, who treats the literary accounts as largely historical, suggests that a Déisi settlement in Dyfed could have existed as a subordinate unit to a larger Uí Liatháin-led colony until the latter was expelled under Cunedda.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
narrative of the Cycles of the Kings. It dates approximately to the 8th century, but survives only in manuscripts of a much later date. It describes the fictional history of the Déisi
Déisi
The Déisi were a class of peoples in ancient and medieval Ireland. The term is Old Irish, and derives from the word déis, meaning "vassal" or "subject"; in its original sense, it designated groups who were vassals or rent-payers to a landowner. Later, it became a proper name for certain septs and...
, a group that had gained political power in parts of Ireland during the Early Middle Ages. Part of the text's purpose is to provide the kings of the Déisi – historically the descendants of unlanded vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
s to other tribes – with a mythical noble origin as the heirs to a dynasty expelled from Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
.
The story survives in two different Old Irish versions, which contain essentially the same narrative supplemented by singular additions, including tangential episodes, lists of names, and poetry. After violently recovering his niece from the depredations of the king's son of Tara, Óengus Gaíbúaibthech and his followers are dispossessed by the king and sent to wander Ireland. They tarry in Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
for a period, but are eventually expelled from that kingdom as well. By cunning, magic, and military prowess they are able to forge a home for themselves in 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...
. As with much early Irish literature, the digressive onomastic
Onomastics
Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The words are from the Greek: "ὀνομαστικός" , "of or belonging to naming" and "ὀνοματολογία" , from "ὄνομα" "name". Toponymy or toponomastics, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of...
and genealogical material is of great value. In particular, one passage describes a Déisi branch settling in 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...
and founding the Kingdom of Dyfed
Kingdom of Dyfed
The Kingdom of Dyfed is one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in south-west Wales, based on the former Irish tribal lands of the Déisi from c 350 until it was subsumed into Deheubarth in 920. In Latin, the country of the Déisi was Demetae, eventually to...
, a matter of some interest in the context of early Irish migrations to Britain.
Versions and manuscripts
The story survives in an earlier and a later version, dubbed by Kuno MeyerKuno 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:...
"A" and "B". The A version dates to the 8th century, but exists only in manuscripts of a significantly later date. It survives complete in Laud MS 610 and Rawlinson MS 502, and in fragmentary form in the Book of Uí Maine and the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. Of the complete copies, Meyer notes that the Rawlinson text contains fewer errors, but that Laud preserves more archaic spelling. The B version survives in some form in three manuscripts. The oldest of these is a fragment contained in the Book of the Dun Cow; this copy is complemented by the later two, found in H. 3. 17 and H. 2. 5, allowing for reconstruction of the text. The H. 2. 5 copy further contains several poems absent from the other manuscripts.
The title is recorded variously in the manuscripts. Rawlinson contains Tairired na n'Déssi, or The Journeying of the Déisi. Laud records it as De causis torche n'Déssi/acuis toirge na n'Déssi. The word torche/toirge is obscure, but Meyer associates it with "expedition". The B manuscripts all contain some reference to the injury visited upon Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt , also known as Cormac ua Cuinn or Cormac Ulfada , was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...
, one of the characters: the Book of the Dun Cow has Tucait innarba na n'Dési im Mumain & aided Cormaic, H. 3. 17 has Cóechad Cormaic i Temraig, and H. 2. 5 has Tucaid cháetcha Cormaic do Aengus Gaibuaibtheach & aigeag Ceallaig & fotha indarbtha na nDeissi do Muig Breag. Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville
Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville
Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville , was a French historian and philologist.He was born at Nancy. In 1851 he left the École des Chartes with the degree of palaeographic archivist...
's Catalogue further lists two possibly related titles: Longes Eithne Uathaige and Tochomlad na nDési a Temraig. However, it is unknown to which version, if either, these refer.
Background
The term Déisi initially designated various subject peoples owing tribute to landowning tribes. In the area of CashelCashel, County Tipperary
Cashel is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 2936 at the 2006 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Additionally, the cathedra of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to the English Reformation....
in Munster, the group known as the Déisi Muman were subject to the Eóganachta
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...
dynasty. Over time, however, the Déisi Muman grew in power, and were prominent enough to found their own local kingdom from a fairly early date. Though its subject is the mythical origin of the Déisi, The Expulsion of the Déisi dates from the period after the Déisi Muman had become a significant political power.
The Expulsion of the Déisi was long considered a more or less historically accurate account of a mass displacement of the Déisi and their subsequent settlement on the southwestern coast of Ireland and elsewhere. This was later disputed by scholars such as John MacNeill, Patrick C. Power
Patrick C. Power
Partick C. Power , was a noted historian of the Catholic Church in Ireland. He was born in Callaghane, Co. Waterford and educated at the Catholic University School and St John’s College, Waterford....
, T. F. O'Rahilly
T. F. O'Rahilly
Thomas Francis O'Rahilly was an Irish scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly in the fields of Historical linguistics and Irish dialects. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy.-Biography:He was born in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland...
, and Séamus Pender, who regard it as late fiction.
Narrative
Both versions describe the adventures of the Déisi forefathers in the time of Cormac mac AirtCormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt , also known as Cormac ua Cuinn or Cormac Ulfada , was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...
, King of Tara. They follow the same narrative track, but both contain sections that break from the main narrative and tell individual, largely unrelated stories about the Déisi and their contemporaries. A contains episodes not in B, and vice versa.
A version
In the A version, the Déisi are led by the four sons of Artchorp: Brecc, Óengus Gaíbúaibthech (Óengus of the Dread Spear), Eochaid Allmuir (Eochaid the Foreigner), and Forad. Forad's daughter Forach is raped and kidnapped by Conn (elsewhere Cellach), the "wanton son" of Cormac maic Airt. Óengus, who leads a band of fifty men, goes to TaraHill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
to rescue her. When Conn refuses to release the girl, Óengus runs him through with his "dread spear" and blinds Cormac in one eye in the process. Because the law forbids a high king to have a physical blemish, Cormac must retire to a ráth
Rath
-Things:*Rath, as an alternative spelling of Rat, a German advisory or ruling council, see, e.g., Parlamentarischer Rat*Ráth, Irish ringfort, fortified earthen works* Rath, a plane in the Magic: The Gathering trading card game...
outside Tara, and defer the kingship to his son Cairbre Lifechair
Cairbre Lifechair
Cairbre Lifechair , son of Cormac mac Airt, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He came to the throne after the death of Eochaid Gonnat...
. Undeterred, Cormac raises his forces against the Déisi and expels them from Tara. Óengus, together with his brother Brecc's sons Russ and Eogan, engages the king in seven battles. After forty days Óengus succeeds Brecc as king of the Déisi, but steps down due to "murmurs" about his consolidation of the power of both champion and king. Cormac will not give the Déisi a fair fight, and pushes them into Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
, where the local ruler Fiachu Bacceda drives 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...
from their land and gives it to the Déisi. They remain there for three decades.
Eventually the Uí Bairrche warrior Eochu Guinech ejects the Déisi and they are compelled to move further south into Ard Ladrann, thereafter known as the "Land of the Wandering Host". Section 8 tells the story of Ethne the Dread, daughter of then King of Leinster Crimthann mac Énnai
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....
(d. 483) and an eventual fosterling of the Déisi. At her birth a druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
prophesies that under Ethne her mother's kindred will seize what will be their homeland; hearing this her parents feed her the flesh of young boys to accelerate her growth. Meanwhile, Cormac continues to harass Óengus and the Déisi, stirring up discord among their warriors and leaders. He sends a peace offer to Russ and Eogan, the sons of Brecc, offering them absolution and land if they return to his service. Óengus promises them yet more land and preeminence over his children for them to remain.
When Crimthann mac Énnai dies, his sons turn on the Déisi, driving them out of Leinster altogether. They settle briefly in Osraige
Kingdom of Osraige
The Kingdom of Osraighe , anglicized as Ossory, was an ancient kingdom of Ireland. It formed the easternmost part of the kingdom and province of Munster until the middle of the 9th century, after which it attached itself to Leinster...
, but the king burns down their houses, leaving them homeless and forced to wander west into 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...
. They receive some relief when Óengus mac Nad Froích
Óengus mac Nad Froích
Óengus mac Nad Froích was an Eoganachta and the first Christian king of Munster. He was the son of Nad Froich mac Cuirc by Faochan, a British lady...
(d. 489), King of Munster, proposes to marry Ethne the Dread, who has been traveling with the Déisi. He offers to grant her any three demands as the dowry. Ethne requests land for her mother's kindred, fulfilling her prophecy; she also requests that Osraig be cleared of its inhabitants and given to the Déisi, and that her people be as free as the "three Eoganacht
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...
of Munster". Óengus grants her wishes, but the Déisi are unable to oust the residents of Osraig. With the help of Lugaid Laigde Cosc, the seer-judge 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...
and Cashel
Cashel, County Tipperary
Cashel is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 2936 at the 2006 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Additionally, the cathedra of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to the English Reformation....
, they devise a trick: learning of a prophecy that whichever side draws first blood the next day will be routed, the Déisi druids transform one of their men into a red cow. The men of Osraig kill the cow, thereby sealing their fate; they are pushed across the Lingaun River, which thereafter serves as the border between the Déisi and Osraig. The Déisi divide up their land, and most of the remainder of the text lists names of individual Déisi and sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
s descended from them.
B version
The B version contains the same basic narrative, with significant additions and subtractions. It likewise begins with the kidnapping of Forach by Cormac's son (here Cellach), but in this version Óengus is initially too busy avenging family insults with his famous spear to save her. It is only after he is rebuked for his dithering by a woman – whom he kills – that he rescues Forach, killing Cellach and blinding Cormac in the process. The story continues with the Déisi's expulsion from Tara, their sojourn in Leinster, and their patriation in Munster following the marriage arrangement between Ethne the Dread and Óengus mac Nad FroíchÓengus mac Nad Froích
Óengus mac Nad Froích was an Eoganachta and the first Christian king of Munster. He was the son of Nad Froich mac Cuirc by Faochan, a British lady...
. Here, however, aid in exploiting the prophecy that ultimately allows them to displace the men of Osraig comes not from a seer-judge, but from the "haughty daughter" of the Osraige druid who delivers the prognostication.
Of the material not in the A version, by far the most substantial is in a lengthy tangential episode dealing with the birth and childhood of Óengus' foster son Corc Duibne, progenitor of the Corcu Duibne
Corcu Duibne
The Corcu Duibne was a notable kingdom in prehistoric and medieval County Kerry, Ireland which included the Dingle Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula and connecting lands...
, whose name is merely mentioned in A. Corc and his brother are born of incest to Coirpre Múse and Duihind, children of the king of Munster Conaire Cóem, and their nativity brings famine to the land. The people want them immolated, but Corc is saved by a druid and his wife who take him to an offshore island so that his curse is removed from Ireland. The druid's wife, Boí, performs purification rituals that ultimately transfer Corc's curse to an otherworldy white cow, allowing him to return to his family. Eventually he serves as hostage in Cormac mac Airt's court, where he is fostered by Óengus; he accompanies his foster father when he is expelled from Tara. He tries to convince the wandering Déisi to settle on the island of his rearing, and stays there when the Déisi opt to move on to Cashel.
Dyfed
Section 11 of A describes Eochaid son of Artchorp traveling oversea with his descendants and settling in Demed (Demetia, later known as DyfedKingdom of Dyfed
The Kingdom of Dyfed is one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in south-west Wales, based on the former Irish tribal lands of the Déisi from c 350 until it was subsumed into Deheubarth in 920. In Latin, the country of the Déisi was Demetae, eventually to...
). From Eochaid and his descendants springs the line of kings of Dyfed, whose descent is given down to "Tualodor mac Rígin" (Tudor map Regin). This genealogy has much correspondence with pedigrees in Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
sources, namely the Harleian genealogies
Harleian genealogies
The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harleian MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Collection, the manuscript, which also contains the Annales Cambriae and a version of the Historia Brittonum, has been dated to c. 1100, although a date of c.1200...
and the later genealogies from Jesus College MS 20
Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20
The genealogies from Jesus College MS 20 are a medieval Welsh collection of genealogies preserved in a single manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Jesus College, MS 20, folios 33r–41r...
. The Harleian records show the same names from Tudor back to the figure Triphun, given in Expulsion as Eochaid's great-grandson. However, Harleian gives an entirely different pedigree for Triphun himself, tracing his descent back to the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Constantine I
Constantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
. This could be an attempt by later genealogists to give a more illustrious pedigree to Dyfed's kingly line, or possibly to obscure its Irish origins. However, it could be that Harleian preserves the older and more accurate version, and that the Expulsion version is a later textual corruption.
Regardless, there is indeed evidence of early Irish presence in Dyfed and elsewhere in Britain. Ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
inscriptions in an early form of Irish
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...
have been found in Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
and Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
. Additionally, later literary sources from both sides of the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
discuss the presence of southern Irish peoples in Britain. The 9th-century Historia Brittonum, for instance, refers to the Uí Liatháin
Uí Liatháin
The Uí Liatháin were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example The Expulsion of the Déisi...
being active in Dyfed until they were pushed out by Cunedda
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...
and his sons (fl. mid-5th century). Cormac's Glossary also mentions the oversea exploits of the Uí Liatháin, but locates their fortress in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
rather than Dyfed. However, only The Expulsion of the Déisi attests a specifically Déisi presence. Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, nationalist, revolutionary and politician. MacNeill is regarded as the father of the modern study of early Irish medieval history. He was a co-founder of the Gaelic League, to preserve Irish language and culture, going on to establish the Irish Volunteers...
, who treats the literary accounts as largely historical, suggests that a Déisi settlement in Dyfed could have existed as a subordinate unit to a larger Uí Liatháin-led colony until the latter was expelled under Cunedda.