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Corc mac Luigthig

Irish king of 4th century

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 5, 2024
Entity authorityQ127580
Source-derived summary

Corc mac Luigthig (340-379), also called Conall Corc, Corc of Cashel, and Corc mac Láire, is the hero of Irish language tales which form part of the origin legend of the Eóganachta, a group of kindreds which traced their descent from Conall Corc and took their name from his ancestor Éogan Mór. The early kindred they belonged to are known as the Deirgtine. He was probably a grandson of Ailill Flann Bec, and possible cousins were Dáire Cerbba and the famous Crimthann mac Fidaig. The latter is his opponent in a celebrated cycle of stories.

Biography

The name and identity of Corc's actual father is something of a mystery, however. While certainly belonging to the kindred of the proto-Eóganachta, he is inconsistently named in the genealogies and tales as Lugaid or Láre. Further confusion is caused by the fact that a certain Láre Fidach is named as the father of Crimthann in one, although not necessarily the oldest, source (Laud 610), because this would rather implausibly make him and Corc brothers. In the tales Crimthann is his uncle or cousin. David Sproule more or less gets around this by arguing that Corc's father should be Lugaid Láre and that the Laud pedigree has been misread and/or is erroneous.

One of the two wives of Conall Corc was Aimend, daughter of Óengus Bolg, king of the Corcu Loígde.

Editorial summary

“Corc mac Luigthig” enters the record as irish king of 4th century. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Corc, Luigthig and Irish can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current 227-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0340-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Corc, Luigthig and Irish.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Corc mac Luigthig” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Corc, Luigthig and Irish provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 5, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q127580. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Corc mac Luigthig”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Corc mac Luigthig primary sources, Corc mac Luigthig archive and Corc research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Corc mac Luigthig”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Corc mac Luigthig” 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.