kingdom · British Isles

Kingdom of Ui Failge

450 CE – 1556 CE (approx.) · capital Daingean

Irish midland kingdom of the O'Connor Faly, which resisted English expansion from its bogland strongholds until the plantation of Offaly in 1556.

Origins

The Uí Failge, 'descendants of Failge', claimed descent from Rus Failge, a son of the legendary Leinster king Cathair Mór. From the early medieval period they held a kingdom in the north-west of the Kingdom of Leinster, in what is now County Offaly, which takes its name from them. From the 11th century their rulers were the Ua Conchobair Failge, O'Connor Faly.

Rule and society

Their territory of bog, esker and woodland was hard for invaders to penetrate. After the Anglo-Norman invasion the FitzGeralds of Kildare took their eastern lands, but the O'Connors Faly held the rest, raiding the Pale and taking protection payments known as black rent. Their stronghold at Daingean, set among bogs, was their main fortress in the 16th century.

Decline and legacy

After Brian O'Connor Faly rebelled and surrendered in the 1540s, the English took Daingean. In 1556 the government of Mary I shired the kingdom as King's County, with Daingean renamed Philipstown, and planted it with English settlers, ending the kingdom.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Ui Failge. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ui-failge
MLA
“Kingdom of Ui Failge.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ui-failge. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Ui Failge.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ui-failge.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Ui Failge’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ui-failge (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻