The name Connemara comes from the tribe of Conmac of (Ir), or Conmaicne, a warrior tribe which was sent to the area by the ancient Gaelic Kings of Connacht to ensure their hegemony. The branch of the tribe which went to the coastal area became known as Conmaicne mara, or 'the tribe of Cormac by the sea'.
An early genealogy (Rawlinson) for Clann Lugain: Lugain, son of Irgalach, son of Eignich, son of Cormac, son of Fergus, son of Aed, son of Cormac, son of Cairpre Dam Argait.
The Clan Ó Duibhgeannáin were a family of professional historians in medieval and early modern Ireland. They originated in the kingdom of Annaly (also known as Conmaicne Maigh Rein) and Westmeath on the east bank of the Shannon (mostly situated in what is now Co. Longford) and later migrated into Connacht and descend from the figure claimed as an ancestor by the rulers of Hy-Many. The Dál nDruithne are described in the Book of Uí Maine as a branch of the Catraighe (an ancient tribal group) who were centered by the river Suca (Suck) in Hy Maine. Among the Uí Máine dwelt the Sogain, a Cruithin (Pict) tribe, and the Dal naDruithne believed to be Tuatha De Danann Celts. From County Roscommon, the Sil Mailruain (Saggart Parish) held a large district in the barony of Ballintubber, comprising the parishes of Kilkeeran, Kilkeevin, Kiltullagh, and in County Galway, the parish of Ballynakill.
The Síl Mailruanaidh of Breifne, alias Uí Floinn led by the O'Flynns of Desmond (of Slieve Ui Fhloinn or O'Flynns Mountain) hence Clan Teige, Clondermot, Clan Cian, septs of Hy-Many, in the 12th century were in Southwest Derry. This was within the traditional territory of the Uí Thuirtre and Fir Lí, west of the River Bann.
Some of the Scottish Culdees were among those who were appointed to be the diocesan bishops in the twelfth century. The Diocese of Clonfert was sometimes referred to as the Bishop of Hy-Many. Here, St Laurence O'Toole, was born at Castledermot (Diseart Diarmada), Kildare, Naas, - the first Irishman to appointed to the See of this town of Danes and Norwegians. The Diocese of Cloyne comprises the northern half of County Cork. For the Sieges of Galway; location of the O' Hallorans where the Annals of Insifallen note raids occuring in years 1100, 1101, 1119, 1124. Followed up from the Annals of Four Masters were the Munstermen upon the Connaughtment of Clan Fergal and Magh Seola. The Ua Mughroin were a sept native to Hy-Many, some distance from Gallimhe which was in any case historicly based in a different territory, Clann Fergal.
Chiefs of Muintir Eoluis, a territory which comprised almost the whole of the present baronies of Leitrim, Mohill, and Carrygallen, in the county Leitrim, with a portion of the north of Longford. This Breifne family, like the O'Farrells, princes of Annaly or Longford, were of the race of Ir or Clan-na-Rory.
In medieval times Connemara was ruled by the O'Cadhlas and later by the 'ferocious' O'Flaherty's who built a series of castles along the coast.
Conmaicne Mara is bordered on the west by Lough Corrib (Loch Oirbsen). The ancient territories along the Loch were Iar-Chonnacht, comprising Gnó Mor and Gnó Beag -- with Conmaicne-Mara, now Conamara, on the west, and Úí Briúin Seóla on the east border, and towards the north-west, Dútha Seóigheach, the Joyce Country, between it and Loch Measca; and more to the north-east, Conmaicne Cúile Tola, the barony of Kilmaine, where the first great battle of Moytura was fought: that of the Nemedians, may well have been a mythologised version of the historical Bolgic invasion of the fifth or sixth century BCE. The Second Battle of Moytura, however, would then have been entirely fictional, as most likely were the Fomorians. They contest the ownership of Ireland with the Fir Bolg and their allies in the First Battle of Moytura (or Mag Tuired). The De Danann are victorious and drive the Fir Bolg into exile to the neighbouring islands. Macha and Nuada died in the Second Battle of Mag Tuired.