Ciarraige Airtig


The Ciarraige Airtech were a population-group found in medieval Ireland.

Origins

The Ciarraige Airtech were one of three branches of the Ciarraige located close to each other in central Connacht. They were the Ciarraige Aí, Ciarraige Airtig and Ciarraighe Locha na nÁirne, along the east County Mayo/west-central County Roscommon area. They were thought to have once formed a single over-kingdom which was broken up by the rise of the Uí Briúin in the 8th and 9th centuries.
In 2000, Nollaig Ó Muraíle wrote of them as follows :
"The most obscure of the three branches of Ciarraige Connacht were those of Airtech who are mentioned in the Patrician documents, in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, in the saints' genealogies, and, for the last time, in the early-fourteenth-century annals. Their territory - variously referred to as Crích Airtig and Mag nAirtig - was centred on the parish of Tibohine, baony of Frenchpark, but covered parts of adjacent parishes in north-west roscommon. Overall, their impact on Connacht history must be adjudged very slight."

Annalistic references