East Bréifne
| Kingdom of East Breifne | ||||||||||||
| Breifne Uí Raghallaigh (Irish) | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Motto Fortitudine et prudentia (English: With fortitude and prudence) |
||||||||||||
 A map of 1450 Ireland shows Breifne O'Reilly
|
||||||||||||
| Capital |
Belturbet (1256 to late 13th century) Cavan (c. 1300) |
|||||||||||
| Languages |
Irish English |
|||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | |||||||||||
| Government | Elective monarchy | |||||||||||
| King | ||||||||||||
| • | 1256–1257 | Conchobar Uí Raghallaigh | ||||||||||
| • | 1603–1607 | Maolmhordha O'Reilly | ||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||
| • | Split from Breifne | 1256 | ||||||||||
| • | Shired | 1579 | ||||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1607 | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Coat of arms
The Kingdom of East Breifne (Old Irish: Muintir-Maelmordha; Irish: Breifne Uí Raghallaigh) or Breifne O'Reilly was an historic kingdom of Ireland roughly corresponding to County Cavan that existed from 1256 to 1607. It took its present boundaries in 1579 when East Breifne was renamed Cavan, after Cavan town, and shired into Ulster. Originally part of the older Kingdom of Breifne, East Breifne came into existence following a protracted war between the ruling O'Rourke clan and the ascendant O'Reillys which culminated in the division of the kingdom in 1256. The Kingdom was ruled by the dynasty of the Ó Raghallaigh (O'Reilly) and lasted until the early 17th century.
The area of modern-day County Cavan has been inhabited for over 5,000 years. The O'Reilly are descendant from a kin-group known as Uí Briúin, who settled the Breifne area in the eighth century AD. At some point they splintered off from the Uí Briúin sept and became known as Muintir-Maelmordha, named after their chief Maelmordha who lived in the 9th century. They did not assume a surname until the early 11th century when they became known as O Raghallaigh, from the chieftain Raghallach. They are believed to have arrived in what is now County Cavan in the 10th century. Muintir-Maelmordha first appear in the Irish annals as a clan ruling a small territory around Lough Ramor called Machaire Gailenga in 1126, at which point they are a vassal of the O'Rourkes.
Machaire Gailenga was annexed after the O'Reilly were defeated by the O'Rourkes and became a constituent clan within what was then known as the Kingdom of Bréifne and Conmaicne. King Tigernán Mór Ua Ruairc, who reigned from 1124-1172, was conquering eastward and it was under Tighernán Mór that the Kingdom of Breifne reached its greatest expanse, extending from Kells, County Meath to Drumcliff, County Sligo in the late 12th century. Tighernán Mór consolidated the eastern territories he had conquered through his marriage to Derbforgaill, daughter of the King of Meath.
...
Wikipedia