High Kingdom of Ireland

The official banner of the High Kingdom

The country at the beginning of rp, and at their greatest extent.

Petty Kingdom of Connacht

Petty Kingdom of Ulaidh

Petty Kingdom of Laighin

Petty Kingdom of Connacht

Petty Kingdom of Airgíalla

High Kingdom of Ireland was a High Kingdom present on the island of Ireland. It was the birthplace of the Críostism religion. It would eventually fall due to infighting, weak leadership, and consequences from the Francian Plague.

## History

*Main page: Events of High Kingdom of Ireland*

### Pre-roleplay

Ireland was unified by a Petty King of An Mhumhain, who declared himself the High King of Ireland and above all other petty kings. He was a member of the ó Mathúna dynasty, who would rule Ireland when the rp starts.

### Reign of Eoin Críost ó Mathúna (700-722)

Eoin ó Mathuna was 20 years of age when the rp started in 700. In 703 AD, Francianist missionaries arrived in Ireland, something the High King allowed. Their ideas lead to a spiritual awakening in the young king. He declared himself to be the second coming of Christ, much like how the Francians viewed their king.

It would however anger his vassals, especially Petty King Murchad ó Flannagáin of Ulaidh. In 705 he declares war on the High King. The battle of Loch Deirgeirt in 705 would be undecisive, but the battle of An Bhóinn in 707 would see the rebellious Petty King ambushed and killed.

Eoin Críost built up a system of loyal priests and bishops to make sure that Críostism would become dominant in Ireland, to varying success.

When the Francian Plague hit in 721 he tried to wait it out in his castle but the sickness would eventually reached him and he died from complications of the plague in 722.

### Reign of Senan Críost ó Mathúna (722- 733)

Senan was only a teenager when he rose to power in 722. He was easily influenced by his advisors and was seen as weak by the nobility.

In 727 he was unable to stop the secession of northern parts of the Kingdom, who declared they allegiance to the Cjertacristum monestaries in Avjljíírland.

In 730 he was influenced by his advisors to declare war to reclaim the north. He failed miserably and lost a battle and was forced to flee towards Cairbre. There he was ambushed and killed by north irish forces. The north irish would march towards Corcaigh, sacking it and slaughtering the nobility there, killing any possible heir and fracturing the kingdom.

## Culture and Language

   The inhabitants of Ireland spoke a celtic irish language, related to the other celtic cultures of the British Isles. Most of the population lived in villages and worked as farmers. Irish mythology is rich and livid, and many irish believed in various myths and superstitions.

## Administration

Each village was ruled by a local cheif. They answered to one of three Petty King, or the High King directly in the case for An Mhumhain. The master of the Petty Kings is the High King, whose ancestor is the Petty King who first unified Ireland. As a result of the feudal structure the three Petty Kingdoms were relatively autonomous.

## Military

The High King of Ireland had a personal guard of a couple hundred elite warriors, who trained from birth to serve the High King. The Petty Kings usually had their own small force of trained professional soldiers. If times of war came, each Chief was expected to produce up to ten men of able body to the Petty King, who in turn gave command of the peasant levy to the High King. The High Kingdom had no official navy except for the king's small detachment of personal ships.

## Religion

The country was nominally christian, but being christian in Ireland is very different from being christian in other parts of europe, with the bible and religous laws more being seen as guidelines than actual laws to live by. This means that many aspects of endemic druidic beliefs are still present in Ireland, with a few small communities outright rejecting the authority of the bishops and practicing paganism instead.

In 703, Críostism, the worship of the High King of Ireland as the second coming of Christ, became the official religion of the kingdom. It would spread slowly and would mostly be concentrated to the area around Corcaigh. It was was not uncommon for people to nominally adhere to Críostism and in actuality not believe in it at all. Most of the country would keep its laidback approach to religion.

## Economy

Most of the economy is based around cattle and fishing, with some crop farming and hunting. A notorious exception to this is the copper mines in the southeast. Most of the steel is therefore imported by trading with various other nations.