Monarchy of Ireland


Monarchical systems of government have existed in Ireland from ancient times. This continued in all of Ireland until 1949, when the Republic of Ireland Act removed most of Ireland's residual ties to the British monarch. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, remains under a monarchical system of government.
The office of High King of Ireland effectively ended with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in which the island was declared a fief of the Holy See under the Lordship of the King of England. In practice, conquered territory was divided amongst various Anglo-Norman noble families who assumed title over both the land and the people with the prior Irish inhabitants being either displaced or subjugated under the previously alien system of serfdom. Though the revolutionary change in the status quo was undeniable, the Anglo-Norman invaders would fail to conquer many of the Gaelic kingdoms of Ireland, which continued to exist, often expanding for centuries after, however none could make any viable claims of High Kingship. This lasted until the Parliament of Ireland conferred the crown of Ireland upon King Henry VIII of England during the English Reformation. Henry initiated the Tudor conquest of Ireland which ended Gaelic political independence from the English monarch who now held the crowns of England and Ireland in a personal union.
The Union of the Crowns in 1603 expanded the personal union to include Scotland. The personal union between England and Scotland became a political union with the enactments of the Acts of Union 1707, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. The crowns of Great Britain and Ireland remained in personal union until it was also ended by the Acts of Union 1800, which united Ireland and Great Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1801.
In December 1922, most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, becoming the Irish Free State; at the same time, the newly created Northern Ireland, which covered most of Ulster, remained part of the United Kingdom. As a dominion within the British Empire, the Free State legally retained the same person as monarch as the United Kingdom—which in 1927 changed its name to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 1937, the Free State adopted a new constitution that removed all mention of the monarchy. In April 1949, the former Free State, which covered most of Ireland, declared itself a republic, and withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations; this left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island that retained a monarchical system.

Gaelic kingdoms

Gaelic Ireland consisted of as few as five and as many as nine Primary kingdoms which were often subdivided into many minor smaller kingdoms. The primary kingdoms were Ailech, Airgíalla, Connacht, Leinster, Mide, Osraige, Munster, Thomond and Ulster. Until the end of Gaelic Ireland they continued to fluctuate, expand and contract in size, as well as dissolving entirely or being amalgamated into new entities. The role of High King of Ireland was primarily titular and rarely absolute. Gaelic Ireland was not ruled as a unitary state.
The names of Connacht, Ulster, Leinster and Munster are still in use, now applied to the four modern provinces of Ireland. The following is a list of the main Irish kingdoms and their kings:
  • Kings of Ailech
  • Kings of Airgíalla
  • Kings of Connacht
  • Kings of Leinster
  • Kings of Mide
  • Kings of Osraige
  • Kings of Munster
  • Kings of Thomond
  • Kings of Ulster

    ''Ard Rí co Fresabra'': High Kings with opposition

has noted that "Annal evidence from the late eighth century in Ireland suggests that the larger provincial kingships were already accruing power at the expense of smaller political units. Leading kings appear in public roles at church-state proclamations ... and at royal conferences with their peers.". Responding to the assumption of the title ri hErenn uile by Mael Sechlainn I in 862, she furthermore states that
Nevertheless, the achievements of Máel Sechlainn I and his successors were purely personal, and open to destruction upon their deaths. Between 846 and 1022, and again from 1042 to 1166, kings from the leading Irish kingdoms made greater attempts to compel the rest of the island's populace to their rule, with varying degrees of success, until the inauguration of Ruaidri Ua Conchobair in 1166,

High Kings of Ireland, 800–1198

  • Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid, 846–860
  • Áed Findliath, 861–876
  • Flann Sinna, 877–914
  • Niall Glúndub, 915–917
  • Donnchad Donn, 918–942
  • Congalach Cnogba, 943–954
  • Domnall ua Néill, 955–978
  • Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, 979–1002 and 1014–1022
  • Brian Boru, 1002–1014
  • Donnchad mac Briain, died 1064
  • Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, died 1072
  • Toirdelbach Ua Briain, died 1086
  • Muirchertach Ua Briain, died 1119
  • Domnall Ua Lochlainn, died 1121
  • Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair, c.1119–1156
  • Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, c.1156–1166
  • Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, 1166–1198

    Ruaidrí, King of Ireland

Upon the death of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn in early 1166, Ruaidrí, King of Connacht, proceeded to Dublin where he was inaugurated King of Ireland without opposition. He was arguably the first undisputed full king of Ireland. He was also the last Gaelic one, as the events of the Norman invasion of 1169–1171 brought about the destruction of the high-kingship, and the direct involvement of the Kings of England in Irish politics.
One of Ruaidrí's first acts as king was the subduing of Leinster, which resulted in the exile of its king, Diarmait Mac Murchada. Ruaidrí then obtained terms and hostages from all the notable kings and lords. He then celebrated the Oenach Tailteann, a recognised prerogative of the High Kings, and made a number of notable charitable gifts and donations. However, his caput remained in his home territory in central Connacht. Ireland's recognised capital, Dublin, was ruled by Ascall mac Ragnaill, who had submitted to Ruaidri.
Only with the arrival of MacMurrough's Anglo-Norman benefactors in May 1169 did Ruaidrí's position begin to weaken. A series of disastrous defeats and ill-judged treaties lost him much of Leinster, and encouraged uprisings by rebel lords. By the time of the arrival of Henry II in 1171, Ruaidrí's position as king of Ireland was increasingly untenable.
Ruaidrí at first remained aloof from engagement with King Henry, though many of the lesser kings and lords welcomed his arrival as they wished to see him curb the territorial gains made by his vassals. Through the intercession of Lorcán Ua Tuathail, the Archbishop of Dublin, Ruaidrí and Henry came to terms with the Treaty of Windsor in 1175. Ruaidrí agreed to recognise Henry as his lord; in return, Ruaidrí was allowed to keep all Ireland as his personal kingdom outside the petty kingdoms of Laigin and Mide as well as the city of Waterford.
Henry was unwilling or unable to enforce the terms of the treaty on his barons in Ireland, who continued to gain territory in Ireland. A low point came in 1177 with a successful raid into the heart of Connacht by a party of Anglo-Normans, led by one of Ruaidrí's sons, Prince Muirchertach. They were expelled, Ruaidhrí ordering the blinding of Muirchertach, but over the next six years his rule was increasingly diminished by internal dynastic conflict and external attacks. Finally, in 1183, he abdicated.
He was twice briefly returned to power in 1185 and 1189, but even within his home kingdom of Connacht he had become politically marginalized. He lived quietly on his estates, died at the monastery of Cong in 1198 and was buried at Clonmacnoise. With the possible exception of the short reign of Brian Ua Néill in 1258–1260, no other Gaelic king was ever again recognised as king or high king of Ireland.

Lordship of Ireland: 1171–1542

By the time of Ruaidrí's reign in 1171, King Henry II of England had invaded Ireland and given the part of it he controlled to his son John as a Lordship when John was just ten years old in 1177. When John succeeded to the English throne in 1199, he remained Lord of Ireland thereby bringing the kingdom of England and the lordship of Ireland into personal union. By the mid-13th century, while the island was nominally ruled by the king of England, from c.1260 the effective area of control began to recede. As various Cambro-Norman noble families died out in the male line, the Gaelic nobility began to reclaim lost territory. Successive English kings did little to stem the tide, instead using Ireland to draw upon men and supplies in the wars in Scotland and France.
By the 1390s the Lordship had effectively shrunk to the Pale with the rest of the island under the control of independent Gaelic-Irish or rebel Cambro-Norman noble families. King Richard II of England made two journeys to Ireland during his reign to rectify the situation; as a direct result of his second visit in 1399 he lost his throne to Henry Bolingbroke. This was the last time that a medieval king of England visited Ireland.
For the duration of the 15th century, royal power in Ireland was weak, the country being dominated by the various clans and dynasties of Gaelic or Cambro-Norman origin.

Lords of Ireland, 1177–1542

The title of "Lord of Ireland" was abolished by Henry VIII, who was made King of Ireland by the Parliament of Ireland via the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.