Connacht Holds Firm
Archived: 26 September 2026
Abstract
In 1188, John de Courcy led a broad Anglo-Norman expedition into Connacht, supported by Conchobar Ua Diarmata, but Conchobar Máenmaige Ua Conchobair and Domnall Mór Ua Briain defeated it near the Curlew Mountains after destructive raids through north Connacht. The failure confirmed limits to settler power and strengthened Conchobar briefly before his murder in 1189. Elsewhere, raiders from Magh Coba killed Ailech’s king Domnall Ua Lochlainn despite defeat, while Ruaidrí Ua Canannáin was murdered. Annals also record clerical deaths, pilgrimages, and domestic tragedy. Gerald of Wales’s Topographia circulated, promoting colonial assumptions challenged by annalistic evidence of complex, resilient Irish society.
