The Darini (Δαρῖνοι) (manuscript variant: Darnii [Δάρνιοι]) were a people of ancient Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography as living in south Antrim and north Down.
[6] Cú Roí mac Dáire is a king from Munster who appears frequently in the Ulster Cycle possibly reflecting memories of the prehistoric Darini when their power was great in Ireland.
The legendary Conaire Mór, ancestor of the Síl Conairi, or Dál Riata, Múscraige, Corco Duibne, and Corca Baiscinn, was said to descend from Íar mac Dedad, brother of Dáire.
[8] Finally, the name Íth, given in the genealogies as the ultimate ancestor of the Corcu Loígde (Dáirine) and offering some confusion about their parentage and relation to the Iverni, in fact preserves the same Indo-European root *peiH- ("to be fat, swell"),[9] thus in effect completing a basic picture of the Darini/Dáirine and their kindred in later historical Ireland.
A number of Scottish clans and families in the provinces of Ulster and Munster, trace their origins either among the Darini/Dáirine proper or peoples closely related to them.