Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill ( 949 - September 2, 1022 ) was King of Mide and High King of Ireland . His victory in the Battle of Tara against Olaf Cuaran in 980 resulted in Gaelic control of the Kingdom of Dublin .
Life
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill was born in Ireland in 949. His father was Domnall Donn. He came from the house of Uí Néill.
First reign as Hochkönig
Máel Sechnaill belonged to the Cholmáin clan branch of the Uí Néill dynasty. He was the grandson of Donnchad Donn, the great grandson of Flann Sinna and the great great grandson of the first Máel Sechnaill, Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. The Kings of Tara, or High Kings of Ireland, had switched between the different branches of Uí Néill for centuries. In Máel Sechnaill's time, this alternating succession between Clann Cholmáin in the south and the Cenél nEógain in the north passed, so that in 980 he succeeded Domnall and others Néill. This system had withstood previous challenges from outsiders, including the kings of Ulster . Munster , Leinster and the Viking Invasions .
Defeat of Olaf Cuaran at the Battle of Tara
In 980, Olaf Cuaran, King of Dublin, summoned auxiliaries from the Norse-ruled Scottish Islands and Mann to attack Meath, but was defeated by Máel Sechnaill at Tara. Reginald, Olaf's heir, was killed. Máel Sechnaill followed his victory with a siege of Dublin that surrendered after three days and nights. When, according to Chronicon Scotorum, Máel Sechnaill captured Dublin in 980, he freed all the slaves who were then living in the city.
Battle of Glenmama
In 997, at a royal meeting near Clonfert , Máel Sechnaill met his longtime rival, Brian Boru , King of Munster. The two kings signed an armistice that gave Brian control of the southern half of Ireland while Máel Sechnaill retained the northern half and high kingship. In honor of this agreement, Máel Sechnaill delivered the hostages to Brian who he had taken from Dublin and Leinster, and in 998 Brian delivered the hostages from Connacht to Máel Sechnaill . In the same year Brian and Máel Sechnaill began working against the Northerners from Dublin.
At the end of 999, however, the Leinstermen, historically ruled by either the Uí Neíll high kings or the King of Munster, allied themselves with the Norsemen of Dublin and revolted against Brian. The annals of the four masters report that Brian and Máel Sechnaill united their forces. According to the Ulster Annals , they arrived at Glenmama on Thursday, December 30, 999. The battlefield of Glenmama was located near Lyons Hill in Ardclough, County Kildare between Windmill Hill and Blackchurch in 999 AD. There was the old fortress of the Kings of Leinster. The Munster-Meath Army defeated the Leinster-Dublin Army. Ó Corráin describes it as the "crushing defeat" of Leinster and Dublin, while the Dictionary of English History says that the battle effectively "suppressed" the "desperate uprising" of Leinster and Dublin. Most notably, the defeat left the road to Dublin "free and unhindered for the Victorious Legions of Brian and Máel Sechlainn".
Fall and recovery
The system of alternating succession between the various Uí Neíll branches was ended by Brian Boru's so-called fall of Maél Sechnaill in 1002. In fact, this was a bloodless shift, due to the fact that the northern Uí Neíll, his relatives, did not support Maél Sechnaill against the aspirations of the extremely militarized overlord of Munster. Brian would hardly have any more success with them himself.
Due to the death of Brian Boru, his son, grandson and many other nobles from Munster in Clontarf in 1014, Maél Sechnaill succeeded in regaining the title kingdom with the help of his northern relative Flaithbertach Ua Neíll, of the High Kingdom. Opposition did not reappear until Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó of Leinster came to power. Clann Cholmáin did not provide any more high kings, but the northern Uí Neíll des Cenél nEógain provided two: Domnall Ua Lochlainn and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn.
Marriages and problems
Máel Sechnaill had two famous women:
- Gormflaith ingen Murchada
- Máel Muire ingen Amlaíb, possibly a daughter of the former, but from a different man.
He also had six known children:
- Conchobar
- Flann
- Congalach
- Domnall
- Murchad Rua
- Muirchertach
His oldest descendant was Cornelius Frederic McLoughlin, chief of the name, born July 11, 1897 from the middle of the 20th century.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Mide and High King of Ireland |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 949 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 2, 1022 |