Editing Ulaid (section)

==Population groups within Ulaid==
{{Further|Ulster Cycle}}
According to historical tradition, the ruling dynasties of the Ulaid were either of the Ulaid population-group or the [[Cruthin]]. Medieval Irish genealogists traced the descent of the Ulaid from the legendary [[High King of Ireland]], [[Rudraige mac Sithrigi]].<ref>O'Rahilly 1946, p. 480</ref> The Cruthin on the other hand is the Irish term for the [[Picts]], and are stated as initially being the most powerful and numerous of the two groupings.<ref name="ANHOI212"/> The terms Ulaid and Cruthin in early sources referred to the Dál Fiatach and Dál nAraidi respectively, the most powerful dynasties of both groups.<ref name="ANHOI212"/>

The general scholarly consensus since the time of [[Eoin MacNeill]] has been that the Ulaid were kin to the [[Érainn]],<ref>[[Eoin MacNeill]], [https://archive.org/details/papersirishacad00macnuoft "Early Irish Population Groups: their nomenclature, classification and chronology"], in ''Proceedings of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (C) 29''. (1911): 59–114</ref> or at least to their royal families, sometimes called the [[Clanna Dedad]], and perhaps not their nebulous subject populations.<ref>[[Eoin MacNeill]], ''[https://archive.org/details/phasesofirishhis00macn Phases of Irish History]''. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son. 1920.</ref> [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] notably believed the Ulaid were an actual branch of the Érainn.<ref>[[T. F. O'Rahilly]], ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', 1946, p. 81</ref> Also claimed as being related to the Ulaid are the [[Dáirine]], another name for the Érainn royalty, both of which may have been related or derived from the [[Darini]] of Ptolemy.<ref>Discussed at length by O'Rahilly 1946</ref>

There is uncertainty however over the actual ancestry of the people and dynasties within the medieval over-kingdom of Ulaid. Those claimed as being descended from the Ulaid people included medieval tribes that were said to be instead of the [[Cruthin]] or [[Iverni|Érainn]],<ref name="Cultures"/> for example:
*the [[Dál Riata]], [[Dál Fiatach]], and [[Uí Echach Arda]] are counted as being of the Ulaid. The Dál Riata and Dál Fiatach however professed to be of Érainn descent.<ref name="Cultures"/><ref name="ThorntonPage201"/> Despite this the term Ulaid still referred to the Dál Fiatach until the Anglo-Norman conquest of the over-kingdom in the late 12th century.<ref name="ANHOI212"/>
*the [[Conaille Muirtheimne]], [[Dál nAraidi]] and [[Uí Echach Cobo]] are counted as being of the Cruthin. However, after the 8th century, the ''[[Síl Ír]]''—the book of genealogies on the descendants of the mythical Ír—focuses on the theme that they are the ''fír Ulaid'', "the true Ulaid".<ref name="Kelleher141"/> The Dál nAraidi still maintained the claim in the 10th century, long after their power declined.<ref name="ANHOI212"/><ref name="Cultures"/><ref name="ThorntonPage201"/>