Mac William Íochtar

Mac William Íochtar (Lower Mac William) was a term meaning both a territory and a title in Ireland. The territory covered much of the northern part of the province of Connacht. The Mac William Íochtar functioned as a regional king and received the White Rod. The title was a successor office to the Lord of Connacht which ended upon the murder of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster, in June 1333.

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History

As a result of the Burke Civil War of the 1330's, the Lordship of Connacht was split between two opposing factions of the de Burgh family: the Burkes of Mac William Uachtar (or Clanricarde) in southern Connacht and the Mac William Íochtar Bourkes of northern Connacht. For over three hundred years, the two families dominated the politics of the province, frequently fighting each other for supreme rule of both the Anglo-Irish and Gaelic-Irish peoples.

List of Mac William Íochtar

See also

References