Fiacha, brother of the King of Tara had a son called Eochaid Find, meaning 'Eochaid the fair-haired'. Eochaid obtained Firceall as his share of the Kingdom of Meath, and from him was descended the O'Molloys, the chiefs and landlords of Firceall for a thousand years. Eochaid Find became the first chieftain of Firceall.
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It is not certain where Eochaid lived but it is likely that he lived in Rahelin, which is roughly in the middle of Firceall. At that time, and for many hundreds of years afterwards the main road through Firceall came by Pallas, through Rahelin and Ballyboy and then on to Birr. A monastery grew up in Rahelin. Since the monastery was beside such a main road it had many callers. The custom in those times was that travellers would get a meal and a bed for the night at the monastery at no charge to themselves. There was always a tánaiste and a taoiseach in charge at the same time. If a taoiseach died a tánaiste would take his place as taoiseach. When this happened an election was held to get another tánaiste. This system meant the small state wouldn't be without a leader for even one day. In the Annals it is said that the English called Firceall 'O'Molloys Country'. The O'Molloys in Firceall remained in power until the 16th century.
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