Tethbae
middle Ages Irish confederation
Tethbae (Old Irish pronunciation: [ˈt̠ʲeθβe]; also spelled Tethba, often anglicised Teffia) was a confederation of túatha in central Ireland in the Middle Ages. It was divided into two distinct kingdoms, north Tethba, ruled by the Cenél Coirpri, and south Tethba, ruled by the Cenél Maini. It covered parts of County Westmeath and much of County Longford, counties which today are the far north-west part of the province of Leinster. In some cases, Tethbae may refer to South Tethbae only.
Two Tethbae
In Early Christian times, Tethba lay within the lands of the southern Uí Néill and the ruling dynasties of both kingdoms were reckoned members of the Uí Néill kindred in medieval genealogies. North Tethba—Tethbae Thúaiscirt—was centred on Granard, while south Tethba—Tethbae Deiscirt—lay around Ardagh.
The division of Tethbae into northern and southern regions was attested in the 7th century. It was not only a political and dynastic division. The chief churches of the two-halves belonged to different church confederations. North Tethbae's principal church at Granard was associated with Saint Patrick from the earliest written records.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tethbae” 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.