What is "ulaid"

Ulaid ( Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( modern Irish, )) was the name of a confederation of dynastic-groupings that formed a provincial over-kingdom in north-eastern medieval Ireland. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, as well as in Chóicid, which means "the Fifth". The king of Ulaid was titled alternatively rí Ulad or rí in Chóicid.

Ulaid also refers to a people of early Ireland, and it is from them that the province derives its name. Some of the dynasties within the over-kingdom claimed descent from the Ulaid, whilst others are cited as being of Cruithin descent. In historical documents, the term Ulaid was used to refer to the population-group, of which the Dál Fiatach was the ruling dynasty. As such the title Rí Ulad held two meanings: over-king of Ulaid; and king of the Ulaid, as in the Dál Fiatach.

Anciently, according to legend, the territory of Ulaid spanned across the whole of the modern province of Ulster, excluding County Cavan, but including County Louth. It was said to extend from the River Drowes in the west, which divides County Donegal from County Leitrim, all the way to the River Boyne in County Louth. At the onset of the historic period of Irish history in the 6th-century, the territory of Ulaid was largely confined to east of the River Bann due to encroachment by first the Airgíalla and then the Northern Uí Néill. Ulaid ceased to exist after its conquest in the late 12th-century by the Anglo-Norman knight John de Courcy, and was replaced with the Earldom of Ulster.

An individual from Ulaid was known in Irish as an Ultach, variant spellings being Ultagh and Ultaigh.