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The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish language as Cóiced Laigen, meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinstermen" (Modern Irish Cúige Laighean), where their descendants ruled till the 17th century. Their territory, located in south-east Ireland, is thought to have once extended from the River Shannon to the River Boyne. The surnames of those descended from the Laigin are still counted amongst the most numerous in Ireland.
One archaic poem, possibly dating from about 600 AD, reads as follows:
In the saga, Orgain Denna Ríg ( The Destruction of Dind Ríg), Labraid Loingsech is exiled when his granduncle Cobhtach Coel usurps the kingship, however, he subsequently returns from abroad with an army of spearmen (Laigin) and takes his kingship by burning the citadel of Dind Ríg to the ground with the usurper and all his retinue inside.
The saga ends with:
So then Cobthach Coel is there destroyed, with seven hundred followers and thirty kings around him, on the eve of great Christmas precisely. Hence is said: Three hundred years—victorious reckoning—before Christ's birth, a holy conception, it was not fraternal, it was evil— (Loegaire) Lorc was slain by Cobthach Coel. Cobthach Coel with thirty kings, Labraid ... slew him (Lugaid). Loegaires grandson from the main, in Dind Ríg the host was slain. And 'tis of this that Ferchertne the poet said: " Dind Ríg, which had been Tuaim Tenbath," etc. i.e. Máin Ollam he was at first, Labraid Moen afterwards, but Labraid the Exile, since he went into exile, when he gained a realm as far as the Ictian Sea, and brought the many foreigners with him (to Ireland), to wit, two thousand and two hundred foreigners with broad lances in their hands, from which the Laigin ( Leinstermen) are so called.
Amongst others, some of the dynasties that claimed to belong to the Laigin include: Uí Failge, Uí Bairrche, Uí Dúnlainge, Uí Ceinnselaig, Uí Garrchon, and the Uí Máil.
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