page_title: The Burren
section_title: Medieval
hierarchical_section_title: The Burren / History / Medieval
caption_attribution_description: Corecomroe Abbey, Statue
context_page_description: The Burren is a region of environmental interest primarily located in northwestern County Clare, Ireland, dominated by glaciated karst landscape. It measures, depending on the definition, between 250 square kilometres and 560 square kilometres. The name is most often applied to the area within the circle made by the villages of Tubber, Corofin, Kilfenora, Lisdoonvarna, and Ballyvaughan, and Kinvara in extreme south-western Galway, including the adjacent coastline.
  A part of the Burren forms the Burren National Park, the smallest of the six National Parks in Ireland, while the full Burren and adjacent territory including the Cliffs of Moher are included in the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark.
context_section_description: In the Iron Age and early Medieval times, the region was controlled by a family or tribe known as the Corco Modhruadh, meaning "seed" or "people of Modhruadh". They were one of dozens of minor tribes in Ireland at that time, which occupied a discrete area (tuath) and were joined by a common bloodline or origin myths. By the time Christianity arrived locally, their territory had shrunk somewhat, encompassing what later became the Baronies of Burren and Corcomroe as well as some parts of Inchiquin barony (see below).
  During the 5th and 6th centuries, the region appears to have been ruled from the Aran Islands by the Eóganacht Árann, a minor branch of the Eóganacht dynasty of Munster.
  The history of these years is uncertain, but after the decline of the Eóganacht Árann the local Corco Modhruadh likely fell under the control of the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, a tribe from what is now southern Galway, who prospered in the 7th century. The local tribes were then probably subjects of the Eóganacht Locha Léin until their influence declined in the early 9th century. Whether the Corco Modhruadh still existed as a distinct group at that point is uncertain, as they and their neighbours Corcu Baiscind may have been assimilated into or conquered by the Déisi Tuisceart of eastern Clare, who won a major battle against the Corco Modhruadh in 744. By the 9th century, the Corco Modhruadh had been driven into the Burren uplands.
  The Burren area is notable for the presence of several potential or likely "early" (i.e. pre-12th-century) ecclesiastical or monastic sites. These include Kilfenora, Kilnaboy, Temple Cronan and the churches of Oughtmama. A broader definition of The Burren would also include Dysert O'Dea Monastery near Corofin and Kilmacduagh. The large number of extant cashels, almost 500 of which have been identified in The Burren (out of around 45,000 in Ireland), also indicates the presence of a sizeable (early) medieval population that supported and used these churches.
  At the end of the first millennium, the Dál gCais expanded into the region, against the resistance of the incumbent Uí Lochlainn and O'Conor families. The later regionally dominant O'Brien dynasty traced its origins to them. Evidence of Viking activity in the region is scant. They settled at Limerick, but in the Burren only a few artifacts of Scandinavian design have been found, centred mostly on Cahercommaun, which apparently was a major producer of wool at the time. A Viking arrowhead was found at the ringfort and a Viking hollow-bead necklace (likely dating from 820 to 850 AD) was discovered in nearby Glencurran Cave.
  Either at the end of the 12th or early in the 13th century, Cistercian monks came to the area and established Sancta Maria de Petra Fertili, now known as Corcomroe Abbey.
  In the 12th century, the Corco Modhruadh/Corcomroe territory was made into the newly created Diocese of Kilfenora, of 13 parishes, and the church at Kilfenora became a cathedral.
  At some point around the 12th century, the territory of "Corcomroe" was divided in two for administrative purposes: Corco Modhruadh Iartharach ("Western Corcomroe") and Corco Modhruadh Oirthearach ("Eastern Corcomroe"), also known as Boireann which in the late 16th century became the English administrative Baronies of Corcomroe and Burren, respectively.
  The end of the Medieval period was a difficult era for people in the area. Like much of Europe, the region suffered from the Great Famine (1315-7) and the Black Death. In addition, infighting between the Gaelic lords contributed to a socio-economic decline of the region. This was also reflected in a regional hiatus in large construction projects during the 13th and most of the 14th century.
caption: Tomb in the sanctuary of Corcomroe Abbey with effigy of Conor O'Brien, King of Thomond
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