The so-called House of Moray is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the succession of rulers whose base was at the region of Moray and who ruled sometimes a larger kingdom. It is much the same as Cenél Loairn (although not necessarily exactly), an originally Gaelic concept to express one of the two rivalling leader clans of early medieval Scotland. At the times when the rival held the throne, the Loairn leaders however usually had their effectively independent state of Moray, where a succession of kings (kinglets) or mormaers ruled.