The Uí Lochlainn, [1] also known as the Ó Lochlainn family, [2] were a leading kindred in the Burren region of County Clare.
The Uí Lochlainn were a branch of the Corcu Mruad. [3] In Irish their surname was Ua Lochlainn and Ó Lochlainn. [4] Forms of the personal name Lochlainn first appear on record in the tenth century; the earliest known bearer being Lochlaind mac Maíl Shechnaill, heir of the Corcu Mruad, whose death is noted in 983. [5]
In the sixteenth century, the family's principal seat was situated in the Gragans, at a tower house near the site of the later Gregans Castle. [6] The Uí Lochlainn chieftains lost autonomy in the seventeenth century, although later descendants of the chiefs continued to live in the heart of the family's ancestral lands until twentieth century. [7]