Congal Cáech

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Congal Cáech (also Congal Cláen) was a king of the

637. He was king of Ulaid from 627–637 and, according to some sources, High King of Ireland
.

Origins

While Irish history in this period is replete with the names of persons, about whom little is usually known save for their ancestry and the date and manner of their death, no early source preserves Congal's ancestry. According to later materials Congal was the son of Scandal Sciathlethan and grandson of

Fiachnae mac Báetáin.[1] In the 6th and 7th centuries the Dal nAraide were part of a confederation of Cruithne tribes in Ulaid (Ulster) and were the dominant members.[2] The main ruling line of the Dal nAraide was known as the Uí Chóelbad based in Mag Line, east of Antrim town in modern county Antrim. It is possible that Congal did not belong to this branch of the Cruithne but some other rival branch and so would not be the grandson of Fiachnae who was of this branch.[3]

The Fled Dúin na nGéd makes Congal a grandson of

King of Dál Riata, which is unconfirmed by other sources but chronologically feasible although it contains an anachronism in that Eochaid Buide's death is recorded years before the Battle of Mag Rath. This would make Congal the son of his ally Domnall Brecc's sister.[4]

King of Ulaid

Congal is presumed to have become king of the Dál nAraidi in 626 following the death of Fiachnae, but he is unlikely to have ruled as king of the

Cenél Conaill, Congal's nemesis, to the headship of the Northern Uí Néill. According to the Fled Dúin na nGéd, Domnall was the foster-father of Congal. Domnall had clashed with Suibne earlier that year and it is possible that Domnall and Congal were acting in concert.[6]

This same saga records a slight that Congal suffered at the feast which seems to have turned him against his foster-father. In 629 they clashed and Congal was defeated by Domnall mac Áedo at the Battle of Dún Ceithirn (Duncairn, near Coleraine, modern County Londonderry) and fled the field of battle.[7]

In

Æthelfrith) was also killed. It is possible that upon becoming King of Ulaid, Congal resigned the affairs of Dal nAraide to Maél Caích mac Scandail who met opposition from other Criuthne led by Dícuil mac Echach who may have been a member of the Latharna of Larne (a Dal nAraide tribe).[9]

King of Tara

Congal's bid for the kingship of Tara must have occurred after 629. Events in the midlands in the years 633–634 saw Congal's allies the

Cenél nEógain.[11]

Congal's

kingship of Tara
. No later sources make Congal a High King of Ireland, which is largely the same as the kingship of Tara, but the Cath Maige Rath echoes the Bechbretha in claiming that the men of Ulaid demanded that the eye of the beekeeper's son – a son of the High King Domnall mac Áedo – be put out in repayment.

These tracts may have been part of a propaganda war against Congal who may have faced hostility from the

Ailech
failed to displace this branch in favour of Congal's allies the Cenél maic Ercae.

Mag Rath

battle of Mag Rath (Moira, County Down). Domnall mac Áedo was victorious and Congal was killed in the defeat. This battle appears in the Buile Shuibhne
and is recounted in the Cath Maige Rath.

Reputation and representations

Congal is the protagonist of the Fled Dúin na nGéd. He appears in the Cath Maige Rath.

Irish poet Sir Samuel Ferguson wrote a lengthy heroic poem on Congal, loosely based on the Fled Dúin na nGéd, entitled Congal: A Poem in Five Books (1907).

Sources

The sources for Congal's life and times are limited and generally date from long after his death. The

Early Irish Law tract Bechbretha—on beekeeping
—written in the later 7th century; this purports to explain Congal's epithets.

He also appears in later and less reliable materials such as verse and prose tales, including the Cath Maige Rátha (The

Middle Irish
period, perhaps the early 10th century for the Cath Maige Rátha and the 11th or 12th, perhaps later, for Fled Dúin na nGéd. Those genealogies which include Congal are contradictory.

Notes

  1. ^ Byrne, Table 7
  2. ^ Byrne, pg.109
  3. ^ a b Charles-Edwards, pg.60
  4. ^ Bannerman, Studies, pp. 95–96; O Donovan, Banquet, pp. 44–45. The tale also has Congal send for aid to the "king of France" and mentions three otherwise brothers of Domnall Brecc: Congal Menn, Áed and Suibne. These do not appear in the Senchus fer n-Alban and are presumed to be poetic invention, along with the "king of France".
  5. ^ Annals of Ulster AU 628.3; Annals of Tigernach AT 630.3; Mac Niocaill, pg.95
  6. ^ Mac Niocaill, pg.95
  7. ^ AU 629.2; AT 631.3; Mac Niocaill, pg.95, Byrne, pg.112; Ó Cróinín pg.50
  8. ^ AU 629.1; AT 631.1; Mac Niocaill, pg.95, Byrne, pg.109
  9. ^ Mac Niocaill, pg.95; Byrne, pg.109
  10. ^ Charles-Edwards, pg.498
  11. ^ Charles-Edwards, pg.495
  12. ^ Charles-Edwards, pg.60, 497–498
  13. ^ Mac Niocaill, pg.96

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Congal_Cáech&oldid=1224823578"