Kings of Ireland

Before the English conquest was Ireland divided in several different kingdoms which were subordinated to a common high king. Exactly how much power they had and how long Ireland had been ruled by high kings is disputed. The traditional list of high kings stretch as far back as 1934 BC and is obviously not true. The first confirmed historic king is Niall Noigiallach who is believed to be, next to Genghis Khan, the person with most living descendants today (according to DNA-analysis have someone from his time produced a significant number of children in Ireland). The existence of high kings is however only certain from the eight century and it was not until the next century that they had real power over the island. This unity was lost in the eleventh century when civil wars became endemic. The long period of English rule began with an intervention in another Irish civil war 1169. The pope granted the English kings the title "lord of Ireland" 1171 but complete control over Ireland was not to be achieved until after the middle age. The English kings styled themselves "king of Ireland" from 1541 until 1801 when Ireland was united with Great Britain and the separate Irish title disappeared.

High Kings