Cualu or Cuala (genitive Irish: C[h]ualann) was a territory in Gaelic Ireland south of the River Liffey encompassing the Wicklow Mountains.[1]
Edmund Hogan concludes from primary sources that it "seems to extend from Arklow to the Liffey, and to be coextensive with [the] diocese of Glendaloch".[2] The Slíghe Chualann ["Cualu Way"] was a major road to Tara which crossed the Liffey at Irish: Áth Cliath ["Ford of Hurdles"], beside the later site of Dublin city. Henry Morris suggested, based on a story in a law tract,[3] that the Irish: Fir Chualann ["men of Cualu"] had originally lived further north, in Brega around Tara, until displaced by the Ciannachta after the battle of Crionna.[4] Among the kings of Leinster were Cellach Cualann (died 715) and Crimthann mac Áedo (died 633) who the Annals of Tigernach say was "of Cualu".[5] "Tuathal son of Cremthann, king of Cualu" died in 778.[6]
In the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Cualu was a son of Breogán, as were the founders of three territories further north: Brega, Muirtheimhne, and Cuailgne.[7] The legendary Medb Lethderg was daughter of Conan, king of Cualu.[4] James MacKillop identifies the Fir Chualann with the Cauci of Ptolemy's world map.[8] As early as 1946, T. F. O'Rahilly had also suggested a possible connection between the two.[9] The "ale of Cuala" was the prerogative in various texts of either the High King of Ireland[10] or the king of Leinster.[11] In Norman times, "Fera Cualann", anglicised Fercullen, was a smaller territory than ancient Cualu, encompassing the north Wicklow Mountains and ruled by the O'Toole family, which later became the manor of Powerscourt.[12] The Irish name for Great Sugar Loaf mountain is Ó Cualann ["peak of Cualu"].[13] During the Gaelic revival, Irish: Cuala was revived by the Gaelic League as a name for south Dublin–north Wicklow.[2] Cuala Press was a private press founded by W. B. Yeats' sisters which published works by him and colleagues. Irish: Brí Cualann was coined as an Irish name for Bray, County Wicklow, later rejected as inauthentic by the Placenames Branch.[14] Cuala CLG is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Dalkey. Ceoltóirí Chualann was a 1960s Irish traditional music ensemble named by Seán Ó Riada after its home area.