Fiachnae mac Áedo Róin

Fiachnae mac Áedo Róin (died 789) was a Dal Fiatach king of Ulaid, which is now Ulster, Ireland. He reigned from 750-789. He was the son of Áed Róin (died 735) and brother of Bressal mac Áedo Róin (died 750),previous kings. [Byrne, Table 6; Charles-Edwards, Appendix XXI, Mac Niocaill,pg.155] This family had their base in modern County Down.

Background

His father had been slain in battle in 735 by the high king Áed Allán (died 743) of the Cenél nEógain and the kingship of Ulaid passed to the rival Dal nAraide of southern County Antrim in the person of Cathussach mac Ailello (died 749). However in 749 Cathussach was killed at Ráith Beithech (Rathveagh, modern County Antrim) probably in the interest of the Dal Fiatach and Fiachnae's brother, Bressal, became king. ["Annals of Ulster", AU 749.1; Mac Niocaill,pg.137] Bressal himself was killed in 750 but the Dal Fiatach retained the kingship. [AU 750.10, Mac Niocaill, pg.137] The historian Professor Byrne, however, believes that it is probable there was an interregnum in Ulaid between the reigns of Áed Róin and Fiachnae. [Byrne, pg.118]

Reign

Fiachnae restored the fortunes of the Dal Fiatach during his long reign. In 759 he became involved in a dispute among the churchmen of Armagh. Fiachnae supported the abbot Fer-dá-Chrích versus a priest named Airechtach who had the support of Dúngal mac Amalgado of the Ui Neill of Brega. Fiachnae defeated them at the Battle of Emain Macha, near Armagh, and Dúngal and his ally Donn Bó mac Con Brettan, king of Fir Rois were slain. ["Annals of Ulster", AU 759.2; "Annals of Tigernach", 759.2; Byrne, pg.118; Mac Niocaill, pg.139]

In 761 Fiachnae defeated the Uí Echach Cobo (a branch of the Dal nAraide) of the west part of county Down in the Battle of Áth Duma where their king Ailill mac Feidlimid was slain. [AU 761.2; AT 761.1; Mac Niocaill, pg.139] The Uí Echach Coba were to suffer another defeat in 776 this time at the hands of the Airthir (an Airgialla tribe of modern County Armagh). [AU 776.9; Mac Niocaill, pg.139]

The Dal nAraide proper engaged in internecine civil wars in 776 and 783. In one of these conflicts in 776 Fiachnae's son Eochaid gave support to the claimant Tommaltach mac Indrechtaig (died 790) and they defeated and slew the King of Dal nAraide, Cinaed Ciarrge mac Cathussaig, and his ally Dúngal, king of the Uí Tuirtri (an Airgialla tribe west of Lough Neagh) in the Battle of Drong. [AU 776.7; Mac Niocaill, pg.139]

The power of Fiachnae was such that the high king Donnchad Midi (died 797) sought a conference with him at Inis na Ríg in eastern Brega. However, mutual distrust prevented Fiachnae from coming ashore and Donnchad from going out to sea to meet him. [AU 784.8; Mac Niocaill, pg.139; Byrne,pg.124] The purpose of the meetimg may have been to deliminate spheres of influence. Donnchad may have been seeking to settle affairs involving the Uí Echach Coba and Airthir and the border region of the Conailli Muirtheimne (in modern County Louth). [Mac Niocaill, pg.139-140]

Expansion of Dal Fiatach Influence

The expansion of the Dal Fiatach northwards to the shores of Lough Neagh began in his reign and this cut off the Dal nAraide proper from their kinsmen the Uí Echach Coba in the south. Fiachnae also gave his patronage to Bangor, traditionally a Dal nAraide monastery. [Byrne, pg.119; Ó Cróinín, pg.220] He also converted Downpatrick into a royal monastery (or this was done by his father). [Byrne, pg.119, 124] The fist recorded abbot of Downpatrick in the annals has a death notice in 753. [AU 753.6; Byrne, in "A New History of Ireland", pg.679]

His sons Eochaid mac Fiachnai (died 810) and Cairell mac Fiachnai (died 819) were Kings of Ulster. Another son, Loingsech mac Fiachnai (died 800) was abbot of Downpatrick. [Byrne, pg.124; Ó Cróinín, pg.220] Fiachnae's nephew Diarmait Ua Áedo Róin (died 825) was a Céli Dé (Culdee) church reformer and founded the monastery of Diseart Diarmad (Castledermot, modern County Kildare) in 812 renewing the ties of Bangor with Leinster. [Byrne (NHI), pg.679]

Notes

References

* "Annals of Ulster" at [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100001A/index.html] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* "Annals of Tigernach" at [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/index.html] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), "Irish Kings and High-Kings", Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 978-1-85182-196-9
* Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), "Early Christian Ireland", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-36395-0
* Mac Niocaill, Gearoid (1972), "Ireland before the Vikings", Dublin: Gill and Macmillan
* Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (2005), "A New History of Ireland", Volume One, Oxford: Oxford University Press

External links

* [http://celt.ucc.ie/index.html CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]