Cross and Kingship
The dominant political figure was Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht and the strongest claimant to the high-kingship. The death of Domnall Ua Lochlainn in 1121 had removed his most formidable northern rival, but Ireland was not a centralised kingdom. Tairdelbach’s authority depended on repeated demonstrations of force, negotiated submissions, hostages and alliances with regional rulers. When annalists called him king of Ireland, they expressed a claim to supremacy, not undisputed administrative control over the island.