Lyons Hill
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Lyons Liamhain
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| Town | |
 Lyons
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| Coordinates: 53°17′26″N 6°32′06″W / 53.29067°N 6.53506°WCoordinates: 53°17′26″N 6°32′06″W / 53.29067°N 6.53506°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Kildare |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
Lyons Hill is a restored village, and former parish with church, now part of the community of Ardclough in north County Kildare. At a time when canal passenger boats travelled at 3 mph (4.8 km/h) Lyons was the nearest overnight stop to Dublin on the Grand Canal. On the hilltop is a trigonometrical point used by Ireland's Ordnance Survey. The name derives from the Irish language name for elm tree, Liamhan.
Four families (FitzDermot, Tyrrell, Aylmer and Lawless), have held possession of Lyons through most of its history.
Lyons Hill was the inauguration site for members of one of three septs of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty which rotated the kingship of Leinster between 750 and 1050, after which the family became Normanised as the FitzDermots. In that period 10 Uí Dúnchada Kings of Leinster established their base at Lyons. Their influence helped secure a placemyth for Cnoch Liamhna among 300 locations featured in Dinnshenchas Érenn, the poem Liamuin. The Toraíocht of Liamuin was based on the mythical pursuit of a beautiful daughter of King Dúbhthach Dubthaire. The Lyons kings were:
The arrangement of the three septs of the Uí Dúnlainge to exchange the kingship of Leinster in rotation was almost unique in Irish history. It meant that by the end of the three century-arrangement, monarchs who were seventh cousins were swapping the kingship. By then the dynasty, traditionally clients of the Uí Néill, had become weakened by the battle for control of the region between Brian Bóruma of Dál Cais, the Uí Néill king Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill and the Viking kingdom of Dublin, as well as the Uí Chennselaig of South Leinster.
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