chiefdom · British Isles

Erdini

100 CE – 200 CE (approx.)

People of north-western Ireland recorded by Ptolemy, usually placed around Lough Erne and linked by name with the Érainn.

Origins

The Erdini are named in Ptolemy's Geography of about 150, placed inland in the north-west of Ireland, usually located around Lough Erne in modern Fermanagh and neighbouring parts of Donegal. Their name is often compared with Erne and with the Érainn, a population group of early Irish genealogies.

Rule and society

Nothing is recorded of their rulers, settlements or customs. The lakeland around Lough Erne was well suited to crannogs and cattle farming, and if the name link with the Érainn holds, they belonged to a widespread group that early Irish historians regarded as one of the ancient peoples of Ireland.

Decline and legacy

The Erdini do not reappear in any source. Their territory later fell within the lands of the Kingdom of Airgialla and the northern Uí Néill.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

More states of British Isles →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Erdini. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/erdini
MLA
“Erdini.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/erdini. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Erdini.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/erdini.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Erdini’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/erdini (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻