Áed Sláine
Áed mac Diarmato (died 604), called Áed Sláine (Áed of Slane), was the son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Legendary stories exist of Áed's birth. Saint Columba is said to have prophesied his death. His descendants, the Síl nÁedo Sláine—the seed of Áed of Slane—were prominent in 7th and early 8th century Ireland.
Origins
Áed's mother is said to have been Mugain Mór, perhaps an
The two great Southern Uí Néill dynasties of the midlands were the Síl nÁedo Sláine (the Seed of Áedo of Slane), kings of Brega in the east, and the Clann Cholmáin Máir (the Children of Colmán the Great) in Mide with their centre in the heart of modern Westmeath. The former are more prominent in the seventh century, but after the death of Cináed mac Írgalaig in 728 all the high-kings of the Southern Uí Néill come from the Clann Cholmáin except for a brief period between 944 and 956 when the king of Knowth, Congalach Cnogba, restored the high-kingship to the Brega line.
Finnian prophesied that Áed would "surpass his brethren and more kings will come from him than from the sons of others". This prophecy may date to the period before 750, when the Síl nÁedo Sláine were dominant, after which the descendants of Áed's brother
Life
Compared to his father and his sons, relatively little is said of Áed, either in the Irish annals or in other sources such as hagiography or heroic verse.
Adomnán recounts Columba's prophecy to Áed in his Life of St Columba. Columba told Áed that he would be as great a king as his father—Adomnán calls Diarmait king of Ireland—only if he avoided kinslaying. If he killed a kinsman he would be king only of his own people and that for only a short time.
According to some later king lists, Áed was jointly
It was to distinguish him from that Áed and from others that Áed mac Diarmato received his
In 600 Áed had his nephew,
Áed's recorded children are at least six sons, including Diarmait and Blathmac, and a daughter named Rontud. Áed's grandchildren included Fínsnechta Fledach, Sechnassach and Cenn Fáelad. His wife's name is recorded as Eithne.
References
- ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
- Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), Early Christian Ireland, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-36395-0
- Irwin, Philip (2004). "Áed Sláine mac Diarmata (d. 604)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50076. Retrieved 25 October 2007. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- MacKillop, James (1998), The Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860967-1
- Sharpe, Richard (1995), Adomnán of Iona: Life of St Columba, Harmondsworth: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-044462-9