Felim McHugh O'Connor (Irish: Feidhlimid mac Aedh Ó Conchobair, 1293–1316) was king of Connacht in Ireland from January 1310 to 10 August 1316. The beginning of his kingship saw a revival in the ancient form of inauguration performed for the Kings of Connacht after a period of apparent lapse in the practice. His reign took place against the background of a Gaelic recovery following the Anglo-Norman invasion and the disputed High Kingship of Edwurd Bruce. He was the last King of Connacht to truly hold power over the entire province and his death halted the gains that had been made following the Anglo Norman invasion, by his kingdom. His foster father Maelruanid Mac Diarmata King of Magh Lurg would play an instrumental role in his reign.
O'Connor was killed at the Second Battle of Athenry at the head of a massive Irish army thought to comprise at least two and a half thousand men, mainly from Connacht, with allies from Munster, Breifne, Mide and Ulster. A son, Aedh Ó Conchobair (Hugh O'Conor), would later become king of Connacht, as would his grandson, Toirdelbach Ó Conchobair (Turlough O'Conor).
Life and Reign
His father, Aedh Ó Conchobair, was killed in battle at Coill an Clochain by Aed Breifnech Ua Conchobair. Afterwards the 'three tuatha', that is three sub kingdoms of Connacht, submitted to Aed Breifnach. However, Maelruanid Mac Diarmata King of Magh Luirg marched with Feidhlimid, his foster son, to Sil Murray with an army to ensure that any agreements Aed Breifnach made with the chieftains and sub kings of Connacht would not be ratified. Instead this show of strength by his foster father ensured Sil Murray and its chieftains submitted to Feidhlimid, and they allied themselves with William Burke of the Hiberno-Norman Burke dynasty. Aed Breifnach retaliated the next year in the 'Raid of the Burning' on Clogher killing many of Mac Diarmata's kin including women and children. Feidhlimid's problems with Aed Breifnach would come to an abrupt end soon after however when he was killed by a mercenary captain serving him named Seonac Mac Uidili in a plot organised by William Burke. In 1315 O'Connor was marching in Richard Og de Burgh, the 2nd Earl of Ulster's army against Edwurd Bruce's forces in Ulster ravaging the land as they went. Edwurd Bruce then secretly sent messengers to O'Connor offering him all of the ancient kingdom of Connacht undivided if he would recognize Bruce as High King of Ireland and fight beside him, to which O'Connor agreed. None of O'Connor's descendants would be able to wield power comparable to that of O'Connor or his predecessors and the kingship of Connacht become a more symbolic title as the land and resources of the kings waned as their vassals power increased.
Inauguration
The Annals of Connacht, in there entry for 1310 of O'Connor's inauguration, imply it was the first time in many years that the traditional rite of inauguration for a King of Connacht was carried out. The reason for this is believed to stem from the Norman invasion of Ireland and the political decline of the Irish kingdoms. Feidhlimid's inauguration, then, can be seen to be a symptom of the Gaelic recovery underway in the time of his reign and a throwback to times where his predecessors wielded power throughout the island of Ireland. The entry itself states:
<nowiki></nowiki>and he, Fedlimid mac Aeda meic Eogain, was proclaimed in a style as royal, as lordly and as public as any of his race from the time of Brian son of Eochu Muigmedoin till that day. And when Fedlimid mac Aeda meic Eogain had married the Province of Connacht his foster-father waited upon him during the night in the manner remembered by the old men and recorded in the old books; and this was the most splendid kingship-marriage ever celebrated in Connacht down to that day.<nowiki></nowiki> However the fact that the annalist also mentions the old 'remembered' nature of the ceremony could imply this was how O'Connor and his contemporaries saw the ceremony in 1310, rather than it being outright evidence of the kings inauguration as a sacred marriage between him and the land being the Irish norm.