terse, and most focus their attention on the doings of the Uí Néill and of churchmen. In addition to the annals, a large number of genealogies survive, along with geographical and legal texts, poetry, sagas and hagiography. In the 12th century, propaganda text like Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil and Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib were composed. Even though the historical accuracy of these accounts is dubious, the Cogad especially has had a great impact on the interpretation of Irish medieval history until recently. Political landscape c. 800 At the end of the 8th century, Ireland was homogeneously Gaelic in terms of society, culture and language. People lived in rural communities, and the only larger settlements were monastic towns of varying sizes. The monasteries played an important part in society, not just with regards to religious and cultural life, but also to economy and politics. Christianization had begun in the 5th century, and by the early 9th century the island was almost entirely Christian. However, the Martyrology of Tallaght (written sometime in the 8th or 9th century) hints that paganism had not yet been fully uprooted. Eoin MacNeill identified the "oldest certain fact in the political history of Ireland" as the existence in late prehistory of a pentarchy, probably consisting of the cóiceda or "fifths" of the Ulaid (Ulster), the Connachta (Connacht), the Laigin (Leinster), Mumu (Munster) and Mide (Meath), although some accounts discount Mide and split Mumu in two. This is not an accurate description of the political landscape c. 800, but when discussing the political subdivisions of Ireland at this time, it is still useful to refer to this system; if Laigin and Mide are combined as Leinster, it roughly corresponds with the modern four provinces of Ireland. The Uí Néill, divided in two main branches known as "Northern Uí Néill" and "Southern Uí Néill", was the leading dynasty in Ireland. The Northern Uí Néill controlled the north-western part of Ireland, and was divided into two leading branches, the Cenél Conaill in the west and Cenél nEógain, also known as the kingdom of Ailech. Cenél nEógain had become the more powerful of the two in 789, and had expanded east and southwards, gaining control over the important monastic centre Armagh and the large sub-kingdom of Airgíalla. The traditional kingdom of Ulaid, dominated by Dál Fiatach and Dál nAraidi, was now more or less confined to the area east of the river