Conaire is an Irish language unisex name used mostly as a male given name. It gave rise to the original form of the anglicized surname Connery.
It is borne by two legendary High Kings of Ireland:
There was also a female Irish saint named Conaire (however she is more commonly known as Cannera or Connera)
Other name holders include:
Art mac Cuinn, also known as Art Óenfer, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland.
Conaire Mór, son of Eterscél, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His mother was Mess Búachalla, who was either the daughter of Eochu Feidlech and Étaín, or of Eochu Airem and his daughter by Étaín. In the Old Irish saga Togail Bruidne Dá Derga he is conceived when his mother is visited by Nemglan who flies in her skylight in the form of a bird, and is brought up as Eterscél's son.
The Gaelic revival was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language and Irish Gaelic culture. Irish had diminished as a spoken tongue, remaining the main daily language only in isolated rural areas, with English having become the dominant language in the majority of Ireland.
Liam O'Flaherty was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, and one of the foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century, writing about the common people's experience and from their perspective.
The Iverni were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis in their territory, and observes that this settlement has the same name as the island as a whole, Ivernia. It was probably once the name given to all the peoples of Ireland, but by Ptolemy's time had a more restricted usage applicable to the inhabitants of the south-west. These Iverni can be identified linguistically with the Érainn, a people attested in Munster and elsewhere in the early Middle Ages.
Cairbre is a name of historical significance in medieval Irish culture, attributed to various figures in both mythology and history. Some notable individuals associated with the name include:
Conaire Cóem, son of Mug Láma, son of Coirpre Crou-Chend, son of Coirpre Firmaora, son of Conaire Mór, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, the 111th High King of Ireland. He came to power on the death of his father-in-law Conn Cétchathach, and ruled for seven or eight years, at the end of which he was killed by Nemed, son of Sroibcenn, in the battle of Gruitine. He was succeeded by Conn's son Art.
Achonry is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. The old name is Achad Cain Conairi. St. Nath Í ua hEadhra (O'Hara) founded a monastery here. The foundation gave the later diocese its name. The monastery was founded on land granted by the Clan Conaire. Nath Í was the teacher of St. Féichín of Ballysadare.
Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". Conchobhar/Conchubhar or from the name Conaire, found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other heroes. It is popular in the English-speaking world. Conor has recently become a popular name in North America and in Great Britain. Some alternative spellings for the name are often spelled Connor, Conner.
Pádraic Ó Conaire was an Irish writer and journalist whose production was primarily in the Irish language. In his lifetime he wrote 26 books, 473 stories, 237 essays and 6 plays. His acclaimed novel Deoraíocht has been described by Angela Bourke as 'the earliest example of modernist fiction in Irish'.
Togail Bruidne Dá Derga is an Irish tale belonging to the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. It survives in three Old and Middle Irish recensions, it is part of the Book of Dun Cow. It recounts the birth, life, and death of Conaire Mór son of Eterscél Mór, a legendary High King of Ireland, who is killed at Da Derga's hostel by his enemies when he breaks his geasa. It is considered one of the finest Irish sagas of the early period, comparable to the better-known Táin Bó Cúailnge.
Connery is an Irish surname from County Waterford and Wexford. It is the anglicised form of Gaelic Ó Conaire 'descendant of Conaire', a name meaning 'keeper of the hound'. Notable people with the surname include:
Masal Bugduv is a fictional Moldovan youth footballer who was the subject of a hoax. He was created by Irish journalist Declan Varley as a social experiment.
Mac Cécht is the patronymic or cognomen given to one or two warrior champions from Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. The personages may be identifical or may have been conflated at some stage, although the connection is nowhere made explicit and different fathers are ascribed to them in the tales.
The Darini (Δαρῖνοι) were a people of ancient Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography as living in south Antrim and north Down. Their name implies descent from an ancestor called Dáire (*Dārios), as claimed by several historical peoples, including the Dál Riata and Dál Fiatach (Ulaidh) in the same area of eastern Ulster as well the Érainn (Iverni) of Munster. An early name for Dundrum, County Down, is recorded as Dún Droma Dáirine, and the name Dáirine was applied to the Érainn dynasty.
Saint Conaire was an Irish holy woman who died in 530 AD. Originally from Bantry Bay in modern County Cork, she was an anchorite who lived in a self-imposed solitude and spiritual exile from society.
The Corcu Duibne, which means "seed or tribe of Duibhne", was a notable kingdom in prehistoric and medieval County Kerry, Ireland which included the Dingle Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula and connecting lands. The tribe belonged to the Érainn and claimed descent from the legendary Conaire Mór, possibly making them distant cousins of such far off kingdoms as Dál Riata in Ulster and Scotland, as well as the closer Múscraige and Corcu Baiscind. All the tribes belonged to the Síl Conairi of legend and ultimately traced their descent from the Clanna Dedad.
Deda mac Sin was a prehistoric king of the Érainn of Ireland, possibly of the 1st century BC. Variant forms or spellings include Ded, Dedu, Dedad, Degad, Dega, Dego, Deguth and Daig, with some of these occurring as genitives although usage is entirely unsystematic, besides the rare occurrence of the obvious genitive Dedaid. He is the eponymous ancestor of the Clanna Dedad, and may also have been a King of Munster.
Dáire is an Old Irish name which fell out of use at an early period, remaining restricted essentially to legendary and ancestral figures, usually male. It has come back into fashion since the 18th century. The anglicised form of this name is Dara.
The Síl Conairi or "Seed of Conaire" were those Érainn septs of the legendary Clanna Dedad descended from the monarch Conaire Mór, son of Eterscél Mór, a descendant of Deda mac Sin, namely the Dál Riata, Múscraige, Corcu Duibne, and Corcu Baiscinn.