Editing Connacht (section)

=== High medieval era ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2020}}
Connacht was first raided by the [[Anglo-Normans]] in 1177 but not until 1237 did [[encastellation]] begin under [[Richard Mor de Burgh]] (c. 1194–1242). New towns were founded ([[Athenry]], [[Headford]], [[Castlebar]]) or former settlements expanded ([[Sligo]], [[Roscommon]], [[Loughrea]], [[Ballymote]]). Both ''Gael and Gall'' acknowledged the supreme lordship of the [[Earl of Ulster]]; after the murder of the last earl in 1333, the [[Anglo-Irish]] split into different factions, the most powerful emerging as Bourke of Mac William Eighter in north Connacht, and [[House of Burke|Burke]] of [[Clanricarde]] in the south. They were regularly in and out of alliance with equally powerful [[Gaels|Gaelic]] lords and kings such as [[Conor|Ó Conchobair]] of [[Síol Muireadaigh]], [[Kelly (surname)|Ó Cellaigh]] of [[Uí Maine]] and [[MacDermot|Mac Diarmata]] of [[Moylurg]], in addition to extraprovincial powers such as [[O'Brian|Ó Briain]] of [[Thomond]], [[FitzGerald dynasty|FitzGerald]] of [[Kildare]], [[O'Donnell dynasty|Ó Domhnaill]] of [[Tyrconnell|Tír Chonaill]].

Lesser lords of both ethnicities included [[McDonagh|Mac Donnchadha]], [[Costello (surname)|Mac Goisdelbh]], Mac Bhaldrin, [[Mac Jordan of Connacht|Mac Siurtain]], [[O'Hara (surname)|Ó hEaghra]], [[O'Flaherty|Ó Flaithbeheraigh]], [[Dowd|Ó Dubhda]], [[O'Shaughnessy|Ó Seachnasaigh]], [[Monahan|Ó Manacháin]], [[Joyce (name)|Seoighe]], [[O'Malley (surname)|Ó Máille]], [[Rourke|Ó Ruairc]], [[Madudan mac Gadhra Mór|Ó Madadháin]], [[Clan Barrett|Bairéad]], [[Mulrooney|Ó Máel Ruanaid]], [[Eidhean mac Cléireach|Ó hEidhin]], [[Finnerty|Ó Finnaghtaigh]], [[Fallon (surname)|Ó Fallmhain]], [[Welsh language|Breathneach]], [[Geraghty|Mac Airechtaig]], [[Naughton|Ó Neachtain]], [[Ó hAllmhuráin]], [[Fahy|Ó Fathaigh]].

[[File:Old-Galway.jpg|268px|thumb|left|[[Galway]] map of c. 1651 displaying the medieval town, which now forms the modern city centre]]

The town of [[Galway]] was the only significant urban area in the province. Its inhabitants governed themselves under charter of the king of England. Its merchant families, [[The Tribes of Galway]], traded not only with the lordships around them and in [[Lordship of Ireland|Ireland]], but with [[Kingdom of England|England]], France, and Spain. Its mayor enjoyed supreme power but only for the length of his office, rarely more than a year. Galway's inhabitants were of mixed descent, its families bearing surnames of Gaelic, French, English, Welsh, Norman and other origins.

Connacht was the site of two of the bloodiest battles in Irish history, the [[Second Battle of Athenry]] (1316) and the [[Battle of Knockdoe]] (1504). The casualties of both battles were measured in several thousand, unusually high for Irish warfare. A third battle at Aughrim in 1691 resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths.

All of Connacht's lordships remained in states of full or semi-independence from other Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish rulers until the late 16th century, when the [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]] (1534–1603) brought all under the direct rule of King [[James I of England]]. The counties were created from c. 1569 onwards.