Hy Mainey
Hy Mainey (/haɪ ‘mān i/ Kiltic pronunciation: [hi ‘mæn yǝ]), officially styled The Ancient and Most Holy Kingdom of Uí Máine, but in modern times formally recognized as the Kingdom of Hy Mainey, is a country located on the Nolverean Peninsula in Western Heremonia. It is bordered on the west and north by the Cerulean Sea, except for a short land boundary with the City-State of Cincris; on the east by Egenauer and Jaegellona; on the southeast by Broyles, Yeblain, Urduwain and Págána Bay; and on the south by Pachibwaron.
With a population of 196,964,533, the territory of Hy Mainey covers roughly 3,439,907 sq. wmi. Hy Mainey is the largest country in Western Heremonia and the fourth largest country on the Heremonian continent. The capital and largest city of Hy Mainey is Gaillimhe (pop. 1,354,789), a global city and financial center. Hy Mainey's other major cities include Tuam, Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Oranmore, Athenry and Gort.
Hy Mainey is a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional monarch. The current head of state is King Cathal V, who descends from one of Heremonia's most ancient royal houses. Hy Mainey is a major developed country, with the world’s fifth-largest economy by GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. Hy Mainey is considered to have a high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Council of Nations Development Index. The equalized median annual income for a family of four is §104,700 and current average life expectancy at birth is 93.7 years.
Hy Mainey became a member state of the See of the Holy Saints when King Máine Mór converted to Sanctism in 366. The Kingdom is signatory to the Eichebourg Conventions of 1873 and the Roosenveen Conventions of 1888 and 1896. In addition, Hy Mainey is a founding member of the Council of Nations, and a permanent member (alternating with Bréifne) of the World Security Council.
Hy Mainey is also a member of the Kiltic Economic Union, as well as the Kiltic Mutual Defense Organization. Hy Mainey is a signatory state of the Tellurian Trade Treaty, the International Dispute Resolution Protocol, the General Accord on the Treatment of Prisoners and the Uniform Monetary Agreement.
Etymology
“Hy Mainey” is the modern international spelling of “Ui Máine,” which in Kiltic means “the descendants of Máine,” referring to Máine Mór (the Great), who along with his father Eochaidh Ferdaghiall and his two sons Breasal and Amhlaibh, led the Kiltic conquest of the Nolverean Peninsula from the Fear Bolg in the early fourth century, and established a Kiltic Kingdom on the west coast of Heremonia.
History
The earliest traces of human activity in what is now Hy Mainey date from nearly 2,300,000 years ago. The archaeological evidence appears to suggest the first inhabitants of the western coastal lowlands were nomadic hunter-gatherers. In addition to pottery shards, projectile points, fire pits and other evidence of pre-historic habitation, a substantial number of decorated cave dwellings have been identified in Hy Mainey.
Dating between 50,000 and 20,000 years old, the majority of the known parietal cave paintings depict large animals typical of the area at the time, and appear to be the combined effort of many generations of artists. Others, often among the oldest, consist of hand stencils and geometric shapes.
Dating between 50,000 and 20,000 years old, the majority of the known parietal cave paintings depict large animals typical of the area at the time, and appear to be the combined effort of many generations of artists. Others, often among the oldest, consist of hand stencils and geometric shapes.
Cave Painting at Cloghaun
The first evidence of permanent settlement appears approximately 13,500 years ago. Distinctive iron fishing hooks, charcoal pits, pottery shards, gold pins and burial mounds dating from roughly that time have been unearthed throughout the region, suggesting that the Fear Bolg people inhabited the area from earliest times, perhaps originating there.
Sites such as the Fields of Caelday, Knockstoghil, Lisnarea, Kilcarrow and Rathlowgan all demonstrate intensive Fear Bolg occupation dating far back into prehistory. The Fear Bolg are known to have dominated the area from the dawn of recorded history until the Kiltic conquest in the fourth century CA.
Earliest Kiltic records refer to the area as the Colked n’Ol Fhearaibh Bolg or “Portion of the Bolg Men.” The Kiltic names for the three main tribes of the indigenous Fear Bolg people were the Fear Craibee, the Tuath na Tadolen and the Gailabháin. Each of these tribes ruled respective kingdoms within the Colked n’Ol Fhearaibh Bolg. In later times the area was called simply “Fear Bolg” in Kiltic descriptions.
The Expulsion of the Three Clúdaithe
The political history of the ancient Kingdom of Hy Mainey began with rebellion and fratricide in the even older Kingdom of Hermion, center of the decaying Mílesean Empire, out of which ventured a small band of warriors and their families, led by three brothers of royal blood in search of a new homeland. Unable to establish themselves among the Jarmenic tribes of the Midcontinental Plains, they continued westward, finally attaining their destiny through the subjugation of the Fear Bolg people and conquest of the Nolverian Peninsula.In the summer of the year 272, the sons of Lugaid macSlaught1 took up arms against Emperor Arthmael Mathghamhain, intent upon seizing control of the Mílesean Empire for their father. They killed the Emperor at the Battle of Gabhra, and marched on the capitol. Before they could sieze the throne, however, their rebel forces were soundly defeated at the Battle of Dungerlone Bridge by Arthmael’s sons Eógan Donndubhán and Bréanain Galchobhán, who were aided by the Fian Breana and a contingent of Gall Óglaigh. But before Eógan could succeed his father as Emperor, the younger Bréanain treacherously murdered his older brother and took the throne for himself.
Bréanain's betrayal of his brother, the rightful Emperor, turned the Fian Breana against him, and the common people referred to him as “Bréanain Bréigach” (Bréanain the False). Nevertheless, he ruled the Empire for nineteen years, during which time he placed his son Deasmhain Anramhar in command of his armies, and increased the numbers of the Gall Óglaigh with foreign conscripts captured during his many military campaigns.
Eógan Donndubhán, the rightful emperor, had three sons of his own – Cennétig, Murrough and Toal, known to history as the Three Clúdaithe, all three having been born with the caul. Their mother was Ailech, the daughter of Udhaire, king of Alamnia. The poet historian Ó Faoláin remembered them in this excerpt from his an Leabhar Crónáin:
Of the three Clúdaithe have you heard,Eógan's sons of highest fame,Clúdach Suibne, Clúdach Na-Daragh,And Clúdach Cuán, the Ard-righ?Their names, all three, I know full well--Cennétig and Murrough and Toal;By these was slain a mighty king,On yonder fair, well cultured plain.Cennétig was Clúdach Cuán, the high king;Murrough, Clúdach Na-Daragh;and glorious Toal was Clúdach Suibne.Mighty were they beyond all Heroes!
-- Stiofán Ó Faoláin, an Leabhar Crónáin
At a time when Deasmhain Anramhar and much of Emperor Bréanain’s Gall Óglaigh were away in the Tir Na Franca on a military expedition against the Belgese, the Three Clúdaithe gave battle to Bréanain and what remained of his army, to avenge their father’s murder. Bréanain's druid, Dubchomar, prophesied that whoever might destroy the righteous Clúdaithe, none of his descendants would ever rule Hermion. King Bréanain was killed in what became known as the Battle of Dubchomar’s Prophesy, and Cennétig Clúdach Cuán, the eldest son of Eógan Donndubhán, took the Imperial throne, reigning from 292 until 296.
Deasmhain Anramhar, with his army of Gall Óglaigh, returned from the war in Tir Na Franca and deposed Cennétig in the summer of 296, banishing the Three Clúdaithe and three hundred of their loyal followers to Alamnia, the ancestral home of their mother. While they were there, the aged King Udhaire put them in command of three hundred trained warriors. They returned to Hermion at the head of their small but skilled army, confident that they should regain the crown, or Deasmhain might kill them, depriving his line of its claim to the throne, according to Dubchomar’s prophesy. But Deasmhain knew of the prophesy as well, and welcomed his cousins instead, allowing their people to settle in the northern province of Uaine in Tyronia.
After several years the small province of Uaine became overpopulated, and the Emperor Deasmhain determined that the Three Clúdaithe should win new swordland of their own, sending them west to conquer the Jarmenic tribes of Tir n’Agonagh. So with their people numbering about seven hundred, their force of three hundred Alamnian warriors and an added cadre of three hundred Gall Óglaigh from Hermion, the Three Clúdaithe marched west into the plains of Tir n’Agonagh.
They fought and won many battles, but despite much military success the people of the Three Clúdaithe were unable to establish more than temporary camps in their new land. Though they might vanquish an enemy and seize a territory, the seemingly endless forces of Jarmenic warriors from other tribes eventually drove them out.
They fought seven battles in a single week against the Hauke at Eben Drolsbüren, killing the Hauke king Othmar Schwerensatz in the seventh encounter. Toal Clúdach Suibne was also killed at the seventh battle of Eben Drolsbüren. The Clúdaithe were in the end repulsed from the land of the Hauke, but not before they burned the capital city to the ground.
In the land of the Gog, they were ambushed by an army of Pfaltzen swordsmen and their king Cennétig Clúdach Cuán was slain, leaving only Murrough Clúdach Na-Daragh as leader of the Kiltic pilgrims. In time, his son Fiachra Cassán rose to lead the clans of the Three Clúdaithe.
The Intercession of Saint Grellan
For fifty years they wandered west across the plains of central Heremonia, fighting local tribes at every turn. Eventually they reached the holy city of Sancta Sedes. There they met a holy man of the West named Grellan of Cill Culaine, who had established many Sanctist communities and built many churches among the Fear Bolg people of the western lowlands.Upon hearing Grellan tell of the Fear Bolg lands, the aging Fiachra Cassán determined to take them for his people. He appointed his grandson, Máine mac Eochaidh, to command his forces and set about preparing for war. Máine, along with his father, Eochaidh Ferdaghiall, and his two sons Breasal and Amhlaibh led the Kiltic army as they marched against the Fear Bolg.
First, they attacked the region of the Sogháin in the Tuath na Tadolen, slaying their chieftains, scattering their armies and plundering the country. They then moved into the Fear Craibee region of Máenmaige, continuing their violent conquest of the Fear Bolg. Grellan was filled with regret over his role in the bloody invasion, and negotiated a peace between the warring parties, which required the Clans of the Clúdaithe to withdraw from Máenmaige, but allowed them to settle in the Sogháin lands they had conquered, as a free and independent nation. Grellan himself acted as guarantor between the two factions.
However, King Cian of the Fear Bolg was determined to trick his adversaries, and make them his subjects. He called for a feast to celebrate the peace treaty, but during the festivities, Máine’s son Amhlaibh was taken as a hostage, providing the Fear Bolg with bargaining leverage over Máine and the Kiltic forces. While in captivity though, Amhlaibh began an illicit affair with the wife of a Fear Bolg prince, who killed him for the transgression. Upon realizing that with the death of Amhlaibh he had lost all bargaining leverage over the invaders, King Cian launched a surprise attack against Máine and the Kiltoi.
From the door of his church, Grellan saw the Fear Bolg army marching and prayed for a righteous resolution to the conflict. According to legend, Grellan’s prayers caused Máine to see a vision of the future battle, which allowed him to defeat the Fear Bolg army in the battle at the bog of Magh Clerrath in the region of the Senchineoil. Another legend suggests King Cian’s army was swallowed up by the bog of Magh Clerrath before they could engage Máine’s army. History records that King Cian d'Fhearaibh Bolg was killed at the Battle of Magh Clerrath, and the Fear Bolg people subjugated under Kiltic rule in the autumn of 357.
The Founding of the Kingdom
The holy man Grellan subsequently granted the territory of the Fear Bolg to Máine and his people, and crowned him their first “King” on 12 Erzmonat 358. The followers of Máine began referring to themselves as the "Uí Máine," and in time the name was applied to the entire country.Grellan provided wise counsel and spiritual guidance to King Máine for many years. In 366, King Máine converted from Kiltic Paganism to the Religion of the Holy Saints. By virtue of this long and distinctive relationship with the Holy See, Hy Mainey has been called the “Eldest Daughter of the Church.”
As a result of his miraculous interventions on behalf of the Hy Mainey, and the counsel and guidance he provided to the king during the kingdom’s early years, culminating in Máine’s conversion to Sanctism in 366, Grellan became the patron saint of the Uí Máine and of the clans and families who descended from Máine mac Eochaidh. So identified is Saint Grellan with the Uí Máine, that even in modern times he is often used as a symbolic personification of the Kingdom.
Máine soon became known as Máine Mór (The Great), having led his people into the land of their destiny, and established a second Kiltic kingdom in the West. He reigned as King of the Uí Máine for fifty years, from 357 until 407, and is the ancestor of many great families of the West, including Breazel, Fallon, Kelly, Lally / Mullally, Madden, Manion, Neachtain (Naughton), Threinfhir, and others.
King Máine Mór was succeeded by his surviving son, Breasal mac Maine Mór, who ruled the Uí Máine for thirty years. Breasal was followed by three of his sons in succession, Fiachra Finn, Connall Cas Ciabhach and Dallán mac Breasal, who ruled for a combined eighty years until 487. The descendants of Máine Mór have ruled the Kingdom of Hy Mainey in an unbroken line since the founding of the kingdom, making the Ui Máine dynasty the oldest known ruling dynasty in the world.
To be continued...
1 Fothad Lógathech and Fothad Cumíthech.
The Kingdom of
Hy Mainey
Ríoght Uí Máine (Kiltic)NATION STATE
National Flag of Hy Mainey
Royal Coat of Arms
National Motto:
"Stay Together"
"Fan le Chéile"
National Anthem:
“Western Land of My Heart’s Longing”
“Tir na Siar dhe Miannaich mo Cridhe”
Patron Saint:
Saint Grellan of Cill Culaine
Capital and Largest City:
Gaillimhe
Demonym:
Hymainey
Official Languages:
Pantellurian
Western Kiltic
Recognized Regional Language:
Ethnic Groups:
Major Religions:
Government:
Galavan
Ethnic Groups:
89.1%
Hymainey (Kiltic)
4.4%
Salizean
2.7%
Swanlinean
Major Religions:
91.4%
Sanctist
4.1%
Unaffiliated
3.2%
Pagan
1.3%
Other
Government:
Unitary Parliamentary
Constitutional Monarchy
Constitutional Monarchy
- Monarch
Cathal V
- Prime Minister (Príomhaire):
Legislature:
Éamon Cosgrove
Legislature:
Dáil Uí Máineann
- Chairman (Cathoirlech):
Sorley Quinlan
Area:
3,439,907 sq. wmi.
Population:
196,964,533 (1980 census)
Formation:
- Ríocht Mhuintir Maine:
12 Erzmonat 358after 1948:
Simoleon (§)
1793 - 1948:
Óirmona (Ƣ)
before 1793:
Airgidmona (Љ)
MAP OF HY MAINEY
Comments