The Dáirine, later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde and associated, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They were derived from or closely associated with the Darini of Ptolemy and were also related to the Ulaid and Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland. Their ancestors appear frequently in the Ulster Cycle. In historical times the Dáirine were represented, as stated, by the Corcu Loígde, the Uí Fidgenti and Uí Liatháin, as well as a few other early historical kindreds of both Munster and Ulster. In ancient genealogical schemes, the historical Dál Fiatach of Ulaid also belong to the Dáirine.
History
Dáirine can sometimes refer to the Érainn dynasties as a whole instead of the distinct royal septs mentioned above. The Dáirine of Munster were said to descend from a certain Dáire, both Dáire Doimthech, ancestor of the Corcu Loígde, and from Dáire mac Dedad, father ofCú Roí. The two are quite probably identical. The medieval genealogists were aware of the confusion and noted it in the Book of Glendalough. At some point the pedigree tradition of the Corcu Loígde diverged in its forms and ceased to closely match those more common elsewhere in Ireland. The Clanna Dedad take their name from Cú Roí's grandfather Dedu mac Sin. Notable is that the Dáirine were greatly renowned as a warlike military caste, in contrast to their agricultural and relatively peaceful successors. According to the Táin Bó Flidais, the Clanna Dedad were one of the three warrior-races of Ireland, the others being the Clanna Rudraige, and the Gamanrad of Irrus Domnann, who were related to the Laigin. However, the Dáirine appear to be most remembered in the surviving corpus for their allegedly bloody and harsh rule, in some tales even coming across as monstrous. This portrayal may or may not have any basis in ancient fact, and is possibly the invention of historians and storytellers. Among the known surviving septs of princely origins in Munster are O'Driscoll, O'Leary, Coffey, Hennessy and Flynn, all descendants of Lugaid Mac Con. In Ulster the Dál Fiatach septs are Haughey/Hoey and Donlevy/Dunleavy. The semi-historical Mongfind and Crimthann mac Fidaig may have derived from peripheral septs of the Dáirine, but this cannot be proved.
Figures
Legendary figures belonging to the Dáirine, descendants of Dáire mac Dedad / Dáire Doimthech, include:
Gantz, Jeffrey, Early Irish Myths and Sagas. Penguin. 1981.
Hellmuth, Petra Sabine, "A Giant Among Kings and Heroes: Some preliminary thoughts on the character Cú Roí mac Dáire in medieval Irish literature", in Emania 17 : 5–11.
