Domnall mac Murchada

For other people named Domnall mac Murchada, see Domnall mac Murchada (disambiguation).

Domnall mac Murchada
King of Leinster; King of Dublin
Domnall's name as it appears on folio 43v of Oxford Bodleian Library Rawlinson B 489 (the Annals of Ulster).
King of Leinster
Reign	1072–1075
Predecessor	Diarmait mac Máel na mBó
Successor	Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair
King of Dublin
Reign	1075
Predecessor	Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill
Successor	Muirchertach Ua Briain
Died	1075
House	Meic Murchada (Uí Chennselaig)
Father	Murchad mac Diarmata

Domnall mac Murchada (died 1075), also known as Domnall mac Murchada meic Diarmata, was a leading late eleventh-century claimant to the Kingdom of Leinster, and a King of Dublin. As a son of Murchad mac Diarmata, King of Dublin and the Isles, Domnall was a grandson of Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, King of Leinster, and thus a member of the Uí Chennselaig. Domnall was also the first of the Meic Murchada, a branch of the Uí Chennselaig named after his father.

In 1071, the year before his grandfather's death, Domnall and an Uí Chennselaig kinsman, Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair, battled for control of Leinster. Although Domnall is accorded the title King of Leinster in one mediaeval king-list, Donnchad was evidently a more powerful claimant, and Domnall appears to have held the Leinster kingship in name only.

Domnall's rise to power in the Kingdom of Dublin took place in 1075, after the expulsion of the reigning Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill, King of Dublin by the latter's overlord, Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster. The circumstances surrounding Domnall's accession are uncertain. He may have collaborated with Gofraid to wrench the kingdom from the grip of the Uí Briain, or he may have been installed in the kingship by Toirdelbach himself, and ruled under the latter's overlordship. Whatever the case, Domnall died within the year, and Toirdelbach placed his own son, Muirchertach, upon the throne.

Background

Simplified family tree of the Uí Chennselaig, displaying Domnall's degree of kinship with his immediate Uí Chennselaig predecessors, and his main rival, Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair.
Donnchad died 1006 Domnall Remar died 1041 Diarmait died 1072 Donnchad died 1089 Glún Iairn died 1070 Murchad died 1070 Énna Bacach died 1092 Donnchad died 1115 Domnall died 1075 Énna

Locations relating to Domnall's life and times.

Domnall was a son of Murchad mac Diarmata, King of Dublin and the Isles, who was himself a son of Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, King of Leinster. Domnall was, therefore, a member of the Uí Chennselaig; as well as the first of the Meic Murchada, a branch of the Uí Chennselaig named after his father. Domnall had two brothers: Donnchad, a later King of Leinster, and Énna.

In 1052, Domnall's aforesaid grandfather conquered the Kingdom of Dublin from Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles, and soon after appointed Murchad as King of Dublin. About a decade later, Murchad appears to have driven Echmarcach from Mann, after which he gained the kingship of the Isles. Diarmait's deep-rooted authority in Norse-Gaelic Dublin lasted for two decades, and was a remarkable achievement that no other Irish king had ever accomplished. Unfortunately for the Uí Chennselaig, two of Diarmait's sons—Murchad and Glún Iairn—unexpectedly predeceased their father in 1070, and Diarmait himself fell in battle two years later.

Kingship of Leinster

Even before Diarmait's demise, the Uí Chennselaig began to fight amongst themselves in a struggle that was almost certainly an after-effect of Diarmait's sons' untimely deaths. Specifically, the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters, and the eleventh- to fourteenth-century Annals of Inisfallen reveal that Domnall battled against the forces of his own first cousin once removed, Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair, before Diarmait's ally, Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster, was able to intervene and restore order in the Kingdom of Leinster.

Up until about the time of his death, Diarmait had been the most powerful king in southern Ireland. In consequence of the void left by his demise, Diarmait's erstwhile ally Toirdelbach seized the initiative, and moved to enforce his own claim to the high-kingship of Ireland. He immediately imposed his overlordship on Leinster—a task almost certainly expedited by the aforesaid infighting amongst the Uí Chennselaig—and took control of Dublin. Whilst the imposition of authority upon rival provincial kingdoms was a fundamental part in gaining the high-kingship, Toirdelbach's decision to march-on Dublin reveals that the acquisition of this coastal kingdom had also become an essential part of the process.

The drinking horns of Cualann, who in the province holds possession of them?
It is to Domnall that the set of goblets is allotted.

— a piece of eleventh-century praise poetry concerning Domnall's apparent kingship in Leinster.

Toirdelbach's subsequent capture of Donnchad in Dublin suggests that the latter was not only the leading Uí Chennselaig dynast, but was also in the process of using the town as the capital of Leinster. Although the list of Leinster kings in the twelfth-century Book of Leinster declares that Domnall had succeeded his grandfather as King of Leinster, it is apparent that Donnchad was indeed the more powerful claimant. In fact, the king-list of Uí Chennselaig in the same source makes no notice of Domnall, and states that it was Donnchad who succeeded Diarmait as King of Uí Chennselaig. Domnall, therefore, may not have reigned in Leinster, and could well have been King of Leinster in name only.

If the Annals of Inisfallen is to be believed, Toirdelbach acquired possession of Dublin when the Dubliners themselves offered him its kingship. Although this record may be mere Uí Briain propaganda, it could instead reveal that the Dubliners preferred a distant overlord from Munster rather than one from neighbouring Leinster. Within the year, the kingship was held by Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill. The latter appears to have been a kinsman of Echmarcach, and may well have been handed the kinship by Toirdelbach, perhaps on account of the considerable distance between the kingdoms.

Kingship of Dublin

Excerpt from Trinity College Dublin 1339, page 39 (the Book of Leinster) concerning Domnall and Donnchad, and the succession of the kingship of Leinster. Despite Domnall's inclusion here, it is uncertain how much authority he had in Leinster.

In 1075, Toirdelbach drove Gofraid from the kingship and Ireland itself. There is uncertainty concerning the circumstances of Gofraid's expulsion, and of Domnall's accession. On one hand, it is possible that Gofraid was involved in lending assistance to Anglo-Danish resistance against the Norman regime in the recently conquered Kingdom of England. If correct, Gofraid would appear to have been at odds with Toirdelbach, a monarch who appears to have cultivated close links with the Norman regime. Domnall, therefore, may have had Toirdelbach's consent to rule in Dublin as Gofraid's replacement. In fact, Toirdelbach's placement of Domnall in Dublin, and his allowance of the latter's aforesaid cousin in Leinster, may have been a way in which the Uí Briain exploited the fractured Uí Chennselaig. Certainly, Domnall's cooperation would have been a valuable asset to Toirdelbach, considering the prominence of his father amongst the Dubliners, and the likelihood that Domnall himself may have lived most of his life there. On the other hand, it is possible that Gofraid was driven from the kingship because he had aligned himself with the Leinstermen against the Uí Briain. If such a sequence of events is correct it could mean that, even though Gofraid was unable continue on with the revolt, it was his Uí Chennselaig confederates who succeeded in securing Dublin from the Uí Briain.

Whatever the circumstances of Domnall's accession, the Uí Chennselaig regime in Dublin was short-lived. The Annals of Inisfallen, the Annals of the Four Masters, and the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster, all reveal that, within the year, Domnall died after a brief illness, with the latter two sources specifying that he succumbed after three nights of sickness. The Annals of Inisfallen and the Annals of Ulster accord him the title King of Dublin, and make no mention of any connection with the Leinster kingship. Upon Domnall's demise, Toirdelbach had his own son, Muirchertach, appointed King of Dublin. In so doing, Toirdelbach reinforced his authority in Dublin, and followed a precedent started by Domnall's grandfather, in which a claimant to the high-kingship of Ireland installed his own heir to the kingship of Dublin.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Domnall mac Murchada
16. Diarmait mac Domnaill, King of Uí Chennselaig (died 996) 8. Donnchad mac Diarmata, King of Uí Chennselaig (died 1006). 4. Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, King of Leinster (died 1072) 18. Gilla Pátraic mac Donnchada, King of Osraige 9. Aífe ingen Gilla Pátraic 2. Murchad mac Diarmata, King of Dublin and the Isles (died 1070) 1. Domnall mac Murchada, King of Dublin (died 1075)

References

Primary sources

• "Annals of Inisfallen". Corpus of Electronic Texts (23 October 2008 ed.). University College Cork. 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
• "Annals of Inisfallen". Corpus of Electronic Texts (16 February 2010 ed.). University College Cork. 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
• "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (3 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013a. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
• "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (16 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013b. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
• "Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. B. 489". Early Manuscripts at Oxford University. Oxford Digital Library. n.d. Retrieved 30 May 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Book of Leinster, Formerly Lebar na Núachongbála". Corpus of Electronic Texts (14 February 2012 ed.). University College Cork. 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
• Meyer, K, ed. (1919). Bruchstücke der Älteren Lyrik Irlands (PDF). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
• "Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin". Corpus of Electronic Texts (1 April 2010 ed.). University College Cork. 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
• "The Annals of Ulster". Corpus of Electronic Texts (29 August 2008 ed.). University College Cork. 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
• "The Annals of Ulster". Corpus of Electronic Texts (6 January 2017 ed.). University College Cork. 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
• "Trinity College Dublin MS 1339". Irish Script on Screen. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Retrieved 30 May 2015.

Secondary sources

• Bracken, D (2004). "Ua Briain, Toirdelbach [Turlough O'Brien] (1009–1086)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20468. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
• Byrne, FJ (1971). "Tribes and Tribalism in Early Ireland". Ériu. 22: 128–166. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30007606.
• Byrne, FJ (2001) [1973]. Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts History Classics. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-552-5. OL 3544482M.
• Charles-Edwards, TM (2004) [2000]. Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-511-03722-8.
• Downham, C (2018). Medieval Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139381598. ISBN 978-1-107-03131-9. LCCN 2017034607.
• Duffy, S (1992). "Irishmen and Islesmen in the Kingdoms of Dublin and Man, 1052–1171". Ériu. 43: 93–133. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30007421.
• Duffy, S (1993a). Ireland and the Irish Sea Region, 1014–1318 (PhD thesis). Trinity College, Dublin. hdl:2262/77137.
• Duffy, S (1993b). "Pre-Norman Dublin: Capital of Ireland?". History Ireland. 1 (4): 13–18. ISSN 0791-8224. JSTOR 27724114.
• Duffy, S (2002). "Emerging From the Mist: Ireland and Man in the Eleventh Century" (PDF). In Davey, P; Finlayson, D; Thomlinson, P (eds.). Mannin Revisited: Twelve Essays on Manx Culture and Environment. Edinburgh: The Scottish Society for Northern Studies. pp. 53–61. ISBN 0 9535226 2 8.
• Duffy, S (2006). "The Royal Dynasties of Dublin and the Isles in the Eleventh Century". In Duffy, S (ed.). Medieval Dublin. Vol. 7. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 51–65. ISBN 1-85182-974-1.
• Duffy, S (2009). "Ireland, c.1000–c.1100". In Stafford, P (ed.). A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland, c.500–c.1100. Blackwell Companions to British History. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 285–302. ISBN 978-1-405-10628-3.
• Flanagan, MT (1981). "Mac Dalbaig, a Leinster Chieftain". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 111: 5–13. ISSN 0035-9106. JSTOR 25508795.
• Flanagan, MT (2008) [2005]. "High-Kings With Opposition, 1072–1166". In Ó Cróinín, D (ed.). Prehistoric and Early Ireland. New History of Ireland. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 899–933. ISBN 978-0-19-821737-4.
• Forte, A; Oram, RD; Pedersen, F (2005). Viking Empires. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82992-2.
• Hudson, B (1994). "William the Conqueror and Ireland". Irish Historical Studies. 29 (114): 145–158. doi:10.1017/S0021121400011548. eISSN 2056-4139. ISSN 0021-1214. JSTOR 30006739.
• Hudson, B (2005a). "Diarmait mac Máele-na-mBó (Reigned 1036–1072)". In Duffy, S (ed.). Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. pp. 127–128. ISBN 0-415-94052-4.
• Hudson, B (2005b). "Ua Briain, Tairrdelbach, (c. 1009–July 14, 1086 at Kincora)". In Duffy, S (ed.). Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. pp. 462–463. ISBN 0-415-94052-4.
• Hudson, B (2006). Irish Sea Studies, 900–1200. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 9781851829835.
• Hudson, BT (2004). "Diarmait mac Máel na mBó (d. 1072)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50102. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
• Hudson, BT (2005). Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion, and Empire in the North Atlantic. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516237-0.
• Lydon, J (2005) [1998]. The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to Present. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-01347-X.
• Mac Cana, P (1993). "IR. Buaball, W Bual 'Drinking Horn'". Ériu. 44: 81–93. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30006879.
• Mac Cana, P (2004). "Praise Poetry in Ireland Before the Normans". Ériu. 54: 11–40. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30007361.
• Mac Shamhráin, AS (1996). Church and Polity in Pre-Norman Ireland: The Case of Glendalough. Maynooth Monographs. Maynooth: An Sagart. ISBN 1 870684 68 0. ISSN 0790-8806.
• Moody, TW; Martin, FX; Byrne, FJ, eds. (2005). Maps, Genealogies, Lists: A Companion to Irish History. New History of Ireland. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198217459.
• Ní Mhaonaigh, M (2018). "Perception and Reality: Ireland c.980–1229". In Smith, B (ed.). The Cambridge History of Ireland. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 131–156. doi:10.1017/9781316275399.009. ISBN 978-1-107-11067-0.
• Ó Corráin, D (n.d.). "The Vikings & Ireland" (PDF). Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved 24 September 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
• Ó Corráin, D (1971). "Irish Regnal Succession: A Reappraisal". Studia Hibernica. 11: 7–39. ISSN 0081-6477. JSTOR 20495982.
• Scowcroft, RM (1995). "Abstract Narrative in Ireland". Ériu. 46: 121–158. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30007878.
• Zumbuhl, M (2005). "Uí Chennselaig". In Duffy, S (ed.). Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. pp. 486–487. ISBN 0-415-94052-4.

Media related to Domnall mac Murchada at Wikimedia Commons