Áed Uaridnach

Áed Uaridnach or Áed mac Domnaill (died 612) was an Irish king who was High King of Ireland. He is sometimes also known as Áed Allán, a name usually reserved for the 8th century king of the same name, this Áed's great-great-grandson.

Áed was the son of Domnall Ilchelgach (died 566) and brother of Eochaid mac Domnaill (died 572), considered to have been High Kings by some sources.. [T.M. Charles-Edwards, "Early Christian Ireland", Appendix V] He belonged to the northern Cenél nEógain kindred of the Uí Néill. He was King of Ailech from 604-612 [ the "Laud Synchronisms" give him a reign of 8 years]

Áed, it was said, was preceded as High King by the joint rule of Áed Sláine and Colmán Rímid and ruled from 604-612. [ the "Laud Synchronisms" give him a reign of 7 years and the "Book of Leinster" 8 years] Áed is mentioned in the earliest Irish King list contained in the "Baile Chuind" (The Ecstasy of Conn), a late 7th century irish poem. In 605 Áed won a victory over the King of Leinster, Brandub mac Echach (died 605) at the Battle of Slabra. ["Annals of Ulster" AU 605.1; "Annals of Tigernach" AT 603.2] Leinster was often a target of the Ui Neill for inaugural raids and the levy of a cattle-tribute. The "Annals of Tigernach" place the beginning of his reign after this event. ["Annals of Tigernach" AT 603.6]

The cause of Áed's death is unknown, but his obituary presents it as a non-violent death. The Cenél Feradach, led by the descendants of Suibne Menn, overshadowed Áed's branch of the Cenél nEógain—the Cenél maic Ercae—and it was not until the time of his great-grandson Fergal mac Máele Dúin that the Cenél maic Ercae again provided a High King of Ireland. Áed's son Máel Fithrich mac Áedo (died 630) was a king of Ailech.

Notes

References

* "Annals of Ulster" at [http://celt.ucc.ie/index.html CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* "Annals of Tigernach" at [http://celt.ucc.ie/index.html CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), "Early Christian Ireland", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-36395-0
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 978-1-85182-196-9

External links

* [http://celt.ucc.ie/index.html CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* [http://www.ucd.ie/tlh/index.html TLH: Thesaurus Linguae Hibernicae] at [http://www.ucd.ie/ University College Dublin]