Eochaid mac Fiachnai

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Eochaid mac Fiachnai (died 810) was a Dal Fiatach king of Ulaid, which is now Ulster, Ireland. He was the son of Fiachnae mac Áedo Róin (died 789), a previous king. [1] He ruled from 790 to 810.

Ulaid

Ulaid or Ulaidh ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages, made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, as well as in Cóiced, which in Irish means "the Fifth". The king of Ulaid was called the rí Ulad or rí in Chóicid.

Fiachnae mac Áedo Róin was a Dál Fiatach ruler of the over-kingdom of Ulaid in Ireland. He reigned from 750 to 789. He was the son of Áed Róin and brother of Bressal mac Áedo Róin, previous kings. This family had their base in modern-day County Down, Northern Ireland.

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Eochaid first appears in the annals in 776. In that year he gave his support to Tommaltach mac Indrechtaig (died 790) in a civil war among the rival Dal nAraide family. They defeated and slew the incumbent king Cináed Ciarrge mac Cathussaig and his ally, Dúngal king of the Uí Tuirtri (an Airgialla tribe west of Lough Neagh) at the Battle of Drong. [2]

Tommaltach mac Indrechtaig was a King of Dal nAraide in Ulaid (Ulster) and possible King of all Ulaid. He was the son of Indrechtach mac Lethlobair, a previous King of Dal nAraide. He ruled from 776 to 790 and as King of all Ulaid from 789 to 790. He belonged to the main ruling dynasty of the Dal nAraide known as the Uí Chóelbad based in Mag Line, east of Antrim town in modern county Antrim.

Cináed Ciarrge mac Cathussaig was a Dál nAraidi king of Ulaid, an over-kingdom in medieval Ireland. He was the son of Cathussach mac Ailello, a previous king and possible over-king of Ulaid. He belonged to the Eilne branch of the family, and ruled from 774 to 776.

His father had restored the fortunes of the Dal Fiatach dynasty but upon his death a succession struggle broke out. Eochaid was challenged for the kingship by his kinsmen Tommaltach mac Cathail. Tommaltach was the great grandson of Óengus, son of Máel Cobo mac Fiachnai (died 647) king of Ulaid and this branch (called the Cenél nÓengusa) threatened to be excluded from the throne. [3] Tommaltach was defeated and slain in battle by Eochaid. [4] However Tommlatach's branch of the family remained based in Leth Cathail (Lecale)-"Cathal's Half" in southern modern County Down (also known as Mag Inis). [5]

Máel Cobo mac Fiachnai was a Dal Fiatach king of Ulaid. He was the son of Fiachnae mac Demmáin and half-brother of Dúnchad mac Fiachnai, previous kings. He ruled from c. 644-647.

Tommaltach mac Indrechtaig of Dal nAraide had profited by the civil war among the Dal Fiatach to acquire the throne of all Ulaid. He died the next year in 790 and in that year the annals also record a slaughter of the Dal Fiatach by the Dál nAraidi. [6] Whether this occurred before or after Tommaltach's death is uncertain. Eochaid became King of Ulaid in 790.

In 801 The Ulaid went to war with the Uí Echach Cobo in the west part of county Down, probably to impose their authority. The Ulaid were victorious and slew the King of Coba, Eochu mac Aililla. On the side of the Ulaid, Cairell mac Cathail of the Leth Cathail branch was slain. [7]

In 809 the high king Áed Oirdnide campaigned against Ulaid and defeated them ravaging from the Bann to Strangford Lough. The motive for this conflict was apparently the killing of Dúnchú, superior of Tulach Léis (Tullylisk, County Down), by the Ulaid. [8] A civil war then followed in which Eochaid was defeated by his brother Cairell mac Fiachnai (died 819). [9] The annals report that Eochaid escaped from this battle and historians place his death in 810.

Áed mac Néill, commonly called Áed Oirdnide, was King of Ailech. A member of the Cenél nEógain dynasty of the northern Uí Néill, he was the son of Niall Frossach. Like his father, Áed was reckoned High King of Ireland. He was King of Ailech from 788 onwards and High King of Ireland from 797.

Cairell mac Fiachnai was a Dal Fiatach king of Ulaid, which is now Ulster, Ireland. He was the son of Fiachnae mac Áedo Róin, a previous king. He ruled from 810 to 819.

Eochaid may be associated with the establishment of Dún Echdach (Duneight) which became the royal seat of the Dal Fiatach as they shifted their power northwards by the 9th century from their old royal seat at Downpatrick. [10] The sons of Eochaid included Muiredach mac Eochada (died 839), a King of Ulaid, and Áed mac Eochada who fathered three kings of Ulaid.

Notes

  1. ↑ Byrne, Table 6; Charles-Edwards, Appendix XXI, Mac Niocaill,pg.155
  2. ↑ Annals of Ulster, AU 776.7; Mac Niocaill, pg.139
  3. ↑ Byrne, Table 6; Charles-Edwards, Appendix XXI
  4. ↑ AU 789.9
  5. ↑ Byrne, pg.119
  6. ↑ AU 790.6; Mac Niocaill, pg.140
  7. ↑ AU 801.3; Mac Niocaill, pg.140
  8. ↑ AU 809.3; 809.7; Byrne, pg.161
  9. ↑ AU 809.9
  10. ↑ Byrne, pg.119

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