Detailed map I made of the Irish kingdoms just before the English Invasion, c. 1150
I created this map based on Paul MacCotter's book Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions which presents a detailed reconstruction of the political divisions of immediately pre-invasion Ireland. At this time the country was divided into 9 or 10 major provincial or semi-provincial kingdoms which competed for the title of King of Ireland. These were in turn divided into smaller regional and local kingdoms, arranged in a basically feudal hierarchy. The lowest level, the local kingdoms, were the basis for the primary administrative division of the time, the trícha cét, which was adopted by the invaders under the name 'cantred' and used as the basis for the granting and colonising of conquered lands. These units are the primary focus of MacCotter's excellent book, which I would highly recommend for anyone interested.
I'm only an ammateur and this is the first map I've ever made so any suggestions on how to improve either the visuals or the historical information would be really appreciated!
Edit 1: For those interested, here's a cool map from the Atlas of Irish History showing the ruling families in the major kingdoms and sub kingdoms at around the same time: https://imgur.com/a/15722qg
Edit 2: For those who commented on it, using 'English Invasion' was a deliberate choice on my part, and not in any way a political one. Modern scholarship is shifting back to calling it the English Invasion, as it was called by contemporaries at the time. See historian Seán Ó Hoireabhárd's book Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion