Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair
King of Connacht
Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair (Anglicised as Cathal O'Connor/O'Conor and Cathal the Red-handed O'Conor) (1153–1224), was a king of Connacht. He was the youngest son of the High King of Ireland Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair and brother to the last fully recognized High King Ruadri Ua Conchobair. His own sons Aedh Ua Conchobair and Feidhlimidh Ua Conchobair were kings of Connacht after him.
His reign was a troubled one dominated by internal feuds and the outside influence of powerful Anglo-Norman lords. From his base west of the river Shannon, he was forced to deal with the Norman invaders and was a competent leader despite his problems, avoiding major conflicts and winning minor skirmishes. Ua Conchobair attempted to make the best of the new situation with Ireland divided between Norman and Gaelic rulers. His long reign was perhaps a sign of relative success. He is the subject, as Cáhal Mór of the Wine Red Hand, of the poem A Vision of Connaught in the Thirteenth Century by the 19th-century Irish nationalist James Clarence Mangan.
Biography
He was king of Connacht with opposition from 1189 to 1202 with Cathal Carragh Ua Conchobair, son of the previous king Conchobar Maenmaige Ua Conchobair, Crobhdearg's nephew. In 1190 a meeting was held at Clonfert to try and establish peace between the two claimants but was unsuccessful.
The public source identifies “Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair” as king of Connacht. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cathal, Crobhdearg and Conchobair.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 1, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3663566. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1153, 1224, 1189 and 1202.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.