Editing Ulaid (section)

{{Short description|Ancient Irish kingdom}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name            =
|conventional_long_name = Ulaid
|common_name            = Ireland
|year_start             = Before 450&nbsp;
|year_end               = &nbsp;1177
|life_span              =
|date_start             =
|date_end               =
|event_start            =
|event_end              =
|p1                     = 
|flag_p1                =
|s1                     = Airgíalla
|image_s1               = [[File:O'Hanlon.png|x30px|link=Airgíalla]]
|s2                     = Earldom of Ulster
|image_s2               = [[File:Lacy Coat of arms.svg|x30px|link=Earldom of Ulster]]
|image_flag             =
|image_coat             =
|symbol_type            =
|image_map              = Ireland900.png
|image_map_caption      = Map of Ireland's over-kingdoms circa 900 AD.
|national_motto         =
|today       = {{plainlist|
*United Kingdom}}
|capital                = ''Various''
|common_languages       = [[Irish language|Irish]]
|government_type        = Monarchy
|title_leader           = [[List of kings of Ulster|King]]
|leader1                = [[Forga mac Dallán]]
|year_leader1           = –465
|leader2                = [[Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe]]
|year_leader2           = 1172–1177
|stat_year1             =
|stat_area1             =
|stat_pop1              =
|currency               =
|footnotes              =
}}
[[File:UlsterDioceseKingdoms.png|thumb|Ulaid during the 10th–11th century and its three main sub-kingdoms, along with some of its neighbouring kingdoms. These boundaries would be used as the basis for the dioceses created in the 12th century.]]
'''{{lang|sga|Ulaid|italic=unset}}''' ([[Old Irish]], {{IPA|sga|ˈuləðʲ|pron}}) or '''{{lang|ga|Ulaidh|italic=unset}}''' ([[Irish language|Modern Irish]], {{IPA|ga|ˈʊlˠiː, ˈʊlˠə|pron}}) was a [[Gaelic Ireland|Gaelic]] [[Provinces of Ireland|over-kingdom]] in north-eastern Ireland during the [[Middle Ages]] made up of a confederation of dynastic groups.<ref name="Connolly589" /> Alternative names include '''{{lang|la|Ulidia}}''', which is the Latin form of {{lang|sga|Ulaid}},<ref name="Hack38" /><ref name="ANHoI17" /><ref name="Tracts" /> and '''{{lang|sga|in Cóiced}}''', Irish for 'the Fifth'.<ref name="ANHoI17" /><ref name="MacNeill651" /> The king of Ulaid was called the {{lang|sga|[[rí]] Ulad}} or {{lang|sga|rí in Chóicid}}.<ref name="MacNeill651" /><ref name="FraserPage159" /><ref name="ANHOI212" />

Ulaid also refers to a people of early Ireland, and it is from them that the province of Ulster derives its name.<ref name="ANHOI212" /> Some of the dynasties in the over-kingdom claimed descent from the Ulaid, but others are cited as being of [[Cruithin]] descent. In historical documents, the term Ulaid was used to refer to the population group of which the {{lang|sga|[[Dál Fiatach]]|italic=unset}} was the ruling dynasty.<ref name="ANHOI212" /> As such, the title {{lang|sga|rí Ulad}} held two meanings: over-king of the Kingdom of Ulaid and king of the Ulaid people, as in the {{lang|sga|Dál Fiatach|italic=unset}}.<ref name="MacNeill651" /><ref name="ANHOI212" />

The Ulaid feature prominently in the [[Ulster Cycle]] of [[Irish mythology]]. According to legend, the ancient territory of Ulaid spanned the whole of the modern province of [[Ulster]], excluding [[County Cavan]], but including [[County Louth]].<ref name="Connolly589" /><ref name="Hack38" /> Its southern border was said to stretch from the River Drowes in the west to the [[River Boyne]] in the east.<ref name="Connolly589" /><ref name="Hack38" /><ref name="ANHOI212" /> At the onset of the historic period of Irish history in the 6th century, the territory of Ulaid was largely confined to east of the [[River Bann]], as it is said to have lost land to the [[Airgíalla]] and the [[Northern Uí Néill]].<ref name="Connolly589" /> Ulaid ceased to exist after its conquest in the late 12th century by the [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] knight [[John de Courcy]], and was replaced with the [[Earldom of Ulster]].<ref name="Connolly589" />

An individual from Ulaid was known in Irish as an {{lang|mga|Ultach}}, the nominative plural being {{lang|mga|Ultaigh}}.
This name lives on in the surname [[McNulty|McAnulty or McNulty]], from {{lang|mga|mac an Ultaigh}} ('son of the Ulsterman').<ref name="Neafsey">{{cite book |last=Neafsey |first=Edward |title=The Surnames of Ireland: Origins and Numbers of Selected Irish Surnames |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fwxxSDG1a_cC&pg=PA168 |date=2002 |publisher=Irish Roots |isbn=9780940134973 |page=168}}</ref>