Tara Te Irirangi (1780sâÂÂ1852) also known as Te Tara ki Moehau or à Âtara Te Irirangi, was paramount chief of NgÃÂi Tai ki TÃÂmaki or NgÃÂti Tai, a MÃÂori tribe of the eastern Auckland region of New Zealand, encompassing parts of the Hauraki Gulf and Wairoa Valley, as well as à Âtara, Clevedon, Maraetai and Howick. Te Irirangi was the great-grandson of Te Wana, a leading rangatira and well-known warrior of NgÃÂi Tai, who, during his life, strengthened NgÃÂi Tai control over the Maraetai-Wairoa area. Tara Te Irirangi died in 1852, after falling ill, his daughter Ngeungeu having been kidnapped by Nga Puhi who sided with the crown to arrange a marriage to a Scotsman losing her Mother tongue as arranged by the crown, extradited her from her father, he died at the mouth of the Wairoa River. He was interred in his waka in the NgÃÂi Tai burial swamps within the west bank of the river.
Prior to his time as ariki (paramount chief), Te Irirangi looked over neighbouring NgÃÂi Tai settlements, including Te Puke à  Tara (à Âtara Hill) and Te Wai à  Tara (à Âtara Creek). Te Irirangi first achieved recognition during his youth in the late warfare of the late 18th-century as a toa rangatira (leading warrior), and from the early 1800s he was the commander in chief of the warriors of NgÃÂi Tai. In 1807, Tara Te Irirangi led NgÃÂi Tai and NgÃÂti Tai warriors south, to support their Tainui relatives of Waikato at Te Mangeo, in a battle known as Te HingakÃÂkÃÂ, best remembered as "the largest battle ever fought on New Zealand soil".
Tara Te Irirangi was the paramount chief during the early years of PÃÂkehàsettlement in the TÃÂmaki region, and also during the Musket Wars of the 1820s. One notable incident involving Te Irirangi occurred in 1821 during the Musket Wars, when a NgÃÂpuhi detachment led by Patuone, a NgÃÂti Hao chief, arrived in Maraetai with the intention of attacking NgÃÂi Tai. Upon meeting with Te Irirangi, it was discovered that through intermarriages with NgÃÂti Huarere, both groups shared whakapapa from their Te Arawa ancestors. Once learning this connection, Patuone forbade his people from attacking. NgÃÂi Tai was later attacked by a Parawhau war party led by Te Tirarau, targeting Te Tà Âtara Pàduring which Tara Te Irirangi was away procuring muskets. Following this invasion, many women and children were captured and taken north, including two of Te Irirangi's daughters â Te Whakakà Âhu and Ngeungeu. While in the Bay of islands, Ngeungeu married Thomas Maxwell, a well-known trader in the area. They later lived on Waiheke Island, prior to Maxwell's death in April 1842.
Te Irirangi did not sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi, however this did not mean that he did not desire relationships with European settlers. In fact, prior to the signing of Te Tiriti, Te Irirangi, as a NgÃÂi Tai rangatira, was involved in land transactions relating to Motutapu and other inner-Gulf islands. On 11 January 1840, Te Irirangi was one of six chiefs involved in the sale of the islands of Motutapu, Hurakia (Rakino), Otata, and Motu Horopapa (Noises), to Thomas Maxwell, a prominent Scottish trader and boat builder in the Hauraki Gulf area, and Te Irirangi's son in law. Te Irirangi was not fairly compensated for this sale, and refused to relinquish part of Motutapu, nor Hurakia or Otata, until payment was received. This did not occur, and Tara Te Irirangi was not compensated until awarded a Crown Grant in 1845. In 1844, Te Irirangi, alongside his nephew WÃÂtene Te Makuru, made the first land sale to settlers in the area, approximately 2500 acres opposite Clevedon Village, to the Cleghorn and Goodfellow families.
Tara Te Irirangi had at least one sister, named Te Rangitakerehau, who married Te Wharerau of NgÃÂti TÃÂwhaki & Te Urikaraka. He also had at least three children, two daughters, named Te Whakakà Âhu and Ngeungeu, and one son, named Honetana. Te Whakakà Âhu married Tirarau, while Ngeungeu married Thomas Maxwell. Following the death of Tara Te Irirangi and other rangatira, Honetana Te Irirangi, alongside others, maintained leadership of NgÃÂi Tai throughout the Waikato Wars, and died in the 1870s.
Descendants of Tara Te Irirangi include Rachael Ngeungeu Te Irirangi Beamish (1893âÂÂ1997), a NgÃÂi Tai and NgÃÂti Paoa community leader and early member of the MÃÂori Women's Welfare League.
Multiple sites in the Auckland region are named after Tara Te Irirangi, these include: