Uí Ruairc

Úi Ruairc O'Rourke
Maltropian noble family
Place of origin	Inis Meala, Maltropia
Estate(s)	Ard a' Róin

Ard a' Róin Castle, former seat of the Uí Ruairc in northwest Inis Asa

The Uí Ruairc are a noble family of Maltropia, originating from Inis Meala. The current head of the house and twenty-sixth Baron Ó Ruairc is Máirín Uí Ruairc, best known as Maltropia's foreign minister since 2008.

The Uí Ruairc seized control of the Earldom of the Isles in the 1330s but were deposed by their main rivals, the Uí , . Exiled to their stronghold at Ard a' Róin, they established a virtually independent territory and used their numerous warships to harass shipping in the waters of the Earldom and Soirláchan. Their strength was inconstant but reached its zenith in the late fifteenth century under the pirate lord Máel Siadhal Ó Ruairc, whose lightning raids on coastal communities earned him the epithet 'the Seal' (Irish: an Rón). Máel Siadhal Ó Ruairc's control over the sea between Inis Asa and Soirláchan led to its being named Bealach Ua Ruairc, or Ó Ruairc's Passage. When he was finally defeated by royalist forces, Ó Ruairc expected to be placated with the title of earl. Instead, the earl of Inis Meala was given authority over Inis Asa, and Ó Ruairc was made a baron. Openly discontent, he plotted revenge, but in 1504 he was murdered by agents of the earl.