The three Ciarraige of Connacht –Ciarraige Áei,Ciarraige Airtig and Ciarraighe Locha na nÁirne – were thought to have once formed a single over-kingdom which was broken up by the rise of theUi Briuin in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Ciarraighe Locha na nÁirne was located in thebarony ofCostello in east County Mayo.
The leadingdynasty of the Ciarraige Locha na nAirne had by the 12th century adopted the surnameÓ Céirín. It is now anglicised as Kerin, Kerins, Kearn, Kerrane andCarey (although this is just one of many possible origins for this name) among other spellings.[1] A branch settled in Clare in the early 15th century, there is also a branch in Kerry.[2]
1155 - "Fiacha, son of CethearnachUa Ceirin, lord ofCiarraighe-Locha-na-nairneadh, died."
1210 - "Donnchadh Cairbrech O'Briain, with his army, and Geoffroi Mareis, with his army of the Foreigners of Mumha, and Aedh, son of Ruaidhri O'Conchobhair, and the son of O'Flaithbhertaigh along with them, proceeded into Connacht..., from thence toLoch-na-nairne, in Ciarraighe, where they committed great depredations; and they were a fortnight, or nearly twenty nights, inCiarraighe, and the Connachtmen before them."
1224 - "MathghamhainO'Ceirín, king ofCiarraige Locha na nAirne died this year."
1266 - "Mathgamain son ofCeithernach, king ofCiarraige, was killed by the Galls of Dunmore this year."
1315 - "The eraghts of theThree Ciarraige were assembled with their flocks and herds, namely theWestern Ciarraige, theCiarraige of Mag nAi and theCiarraige of Airtech."
1315 - "CormacMac Ceithernaig, king of theCiarraige fell,... along with Ruaidri, King of Connacht."
The Carneys of Connacht, Nollaig Ó Muraíle, inSages, Saints and Storytellers: Celtic Studies in Honour of Professor James Carney, pp. 342–357, ed. Ó Corráin, Breatnach and McCone, Maynooth, 1989.ISBN1-870684-07-9.
Some Early Connacht Population Groups, Nollaig Ó Muraíle, inSeachas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour ofFrancis J. Byrne, ed. Alfred P. Smyth,Four Courts Press, Dublin, pp. 161–177, 2000.ISBN1-85182-489-8.
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