Flann Sinna
Flann Sinna | |
---|---|
High King of Ireland | |
Reign | 879–916 |
Predecessor | Áed Findliath |
Successor | Niall Glúndub |
Born | 847 |
Died | 25 May 916 (aged 68–69) Lough Ennel, Kingdom of Meath |
Spouse |
|
Issue |
|
Father | Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid |
Mother | Land ingen Dúngaile |
Flann mac Máel Sechnaill (847 – 25 May 916), better known as Flann Sinna (lit. 'Flann of the Shannon';
Flann was chosen as the High King of Ireland, also known as
Flann may have had the intention of abandoning the traditional succession to the kingship of Tara, whereby the northern and southern branches of the Uí Néill held the kingship alternately, but such plans were thwarted when his favoured son Óengus was killed by his son-in-law and eventual successor Niall Glúndub, son of Áed Findliath, on 7 February 915. Flann's other sons revolted and his authority collapsed.
Ireland in the First Viking Age
The
The records indicate that the first permanent Viking bases were established in 841, near
In 849, a new force appeared, the "Dark Foreigners". Possibly Danes, their activities were directed against the "Foreigners" already in Ireland. A major naval battle fought in Carlingford Lough in 853 produced a victory for the newcomers. In the same year, there arrived another force, the "Fair Foreigners", led by Amlaíb, "son of the king of Laithlind", and Ímar. From the 840s onwards, the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland and the Irish annals recount frequent alliances between the "Foreigners" and Irish kings, especially after the appearance of Amlaíb and Ímar as rulers of Dublin.[5]
The later 860s saw a reduction of activity by the Foreigners—although the Annals indignantly report that they plundered the ancient burial mounds at
Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid
The making of a kingship of Ireland, as kings from Flann to
Feidlimid's Munstermen ravaged the length and breadth of Ireland, as far north as the
On Niall Caille's death in 846, the kingship of Tara passed to Flann Sinna's father Máel Sechnaill. Feidlimid died in the following year, and Máel Sechnaill proceeded to expand his power by war and diplomacy. What is noteworthy about Máel Sechnaill's expansionism, normal for Irish kings, is not that it happened, but the language used to describe it. The Annals of Ulster refer to Máel Sechnaill's armies, not as the "men of Mide", or of the Clann Cholmáin, but as the "men of Ireland" (an expedition co feraib Érenn is recorded in 858).
On his death in 862, Máel Sechnaill's obituary titled him "King of all Ireland" (
Áed Finnliath
On Máel Sechnaill's death, the Uí Néill kingship passed back to the northern branch, represented by
During the reign of his stepfather, Flann enters the historical record. In 877, the Annals of Ulster record that "Donnchad son of Aedacán son of Conchobor, was deceitfully killed by Flann son of Máel Sechnaill". Donnchad, the reigning King of Mide and head of the southern Uí Néill, was Flann's second cousin.[14] Flann's marriage to Áed Findliath's daughter Eithne may have taken place before he seized power, or soon afterwards.[15]
Flann over Ireland
847 or 848: birth of Flann Sinna |
862: death of Máel Sechnaill |
877: Flann kills Donnchad mac Eochocain, becomes King of Mide |
879: Áed Findliath dies |
882: Flann attacks Armagh |
888: Flann defeated by the Foreigners at the Battle of the Pilgrim |
889: Domnall son of Áed Findliath raids Mide |
892: many Foreigners leave Dublin |
c. 900: Cathal mac Conchobair, King of Connacht, accepts Flann's authority |
901: the killing of Flann's son Máel Ruanaid |
902: Foreigners leave, or are driven out, of Dublin |
904: quarrel between Flann and his son Donnchad |
905: Flann attacks Osraige |
906: Flann raids Munster, the Munsterman retaliate |
908: Flann and his allies defeat the Munstermen and kill their king, Cormac mac Cuilennáin |
909: oratory at Clonmacnoise rebuilt in stone on Flann's orders |
910: Flann attacks the kingdom of Bréifne |
913 and 914: Flann and his son Donnchad raid south Brega, burning many churches |
914: battle between Niall Glúndub and Óengus, son of Flann; Óengus mortally wounded |
915: Flann's sons Donnchad and Conchobar rebel; Flann names Niall Glúndub as his heir |
916: death of Flann |
Flann's reign began with a demand for hostages from the kings of Leinster. In 882, he led an army of Irishmen and "Foreigners" into the north, attacking Armagh.[16] Unlike the later poetic accounts which made the Gaels and the "Foreigners" bitterest enemies, and recast events as a struggle between natives and incomers, Irish kings generally had no qualms about allying themselves with the "Foreigners" when convenient.[17] It is likely that one of Flann's sisters was married to a Norse or Norse-Gael leader. Gerald of Wales offers a typically inventive account of how this marriage came about in his Topographia Hibernica. Gerald claimed that Máel Sechnaill had granted his daughter to the Viking chieftain called Turgesius, and he had sent fifteen beardless young men, disguised as the bride's handmaidens, to kill the chieftain and his closest associates.[18]
The Annals of Ulster report that Flann was defeated in 887 by the "Foreigners" at the Battle of the Pilgrim. Among the dead on Flann's side were Áed mac Conchobair of the
In 892, events in
In 901, Flann's son Máel Ruanaid, described as "heir designate of Ireland", was killed, probably burnt in a hall along with other notables, by the Luigni of Connaught. In 904, Flann broke into the Abbey of Kells in order to seize his son Donnchad, who had taken refuge there, and beheaded many of Donnchad's associates. By this point in time, Flann had been king of Ireland in style for a quarter century.
Flann undertook an expedition against his cousin Cellach mac Cerbaill,
Neither spear nor sword will kill him
49: He will take the lordship of Tara, pleasant it will be which will be over the plain of Brega, without plunder, without conflict, without battle, without swift slaughter, without death reproach. |
50: Twenty-five years, truly, will be the time of the high king; Tara of pleasant Brega will be full, there will be honour over every church. |
51: Neither spear nor sword will kill him, he will not fall by weapon-points in his going, in Lough Ennel he will die, after him it will be a noble fame. |
The Prophecy of Berchán, an 11th-century verse history of Scots and Irish kings.[23]
|
On 13 September 908, Flann, aided by his son-in-law Cerball mac Muirecáin, and
In 910, now without the aid of Cerball, who had died of sickness, Flann defeated the men of Bréifne. In 913 and 914, first Donnchad son of Flann, and then Flann himself, ravaged the lands of south Brega and southern Connaught. In the 914 campaign, the Annals of Ulster report that "many churches were profaned by [Flann]". In December of 914, a battle was fought between Niall Glúndub and Óengus, son of Flann. Óengus died of wounds on 7 February 915, the second of Flann's designated heirs to die in his lifetime.[25]
Later in 915, his sons Donnchad and Conchobar rebelled against Flann, and it was only with the aid of Niall Glundúb that Flann's sons were forced back into obedience. Niall Glúndub also compelled a truce between Flann and Fogartach mac Tolairg, king of Brega. Niall may also have been acknowledged as Flann's heir at this time. Flann did not long survive, dying near
Flann was followed as head of Clann Cholmáin and king of Mide by his son Conchobar, and as king of Tara by Niall Glúndub.
Family
Flann Sinna was known to have been married to at least three different women, and his recorded children numbered seven sons and three daughters.
His marriage to
Flann's daughter Gormflaith ingen Flann Sinna became the subject of later literary accounts, which depicted her as a tragic figure. She was married first to Cormac mac Cuilennáin of the Eóganachta, who had taken vows of celibacy as a bishop. On Cormac's death in battle in 908, fighting against her father, she was married to Cerball mac Muirecáin of the Uí Dúnlainge, who supposedly abused her. Cerball was a key ally of Gormflaith's father. After Cerball's death in 909 Gormflaith married her stepbrother Niall Glúndub, who died in 919. The Annals of Clonmacnoise have her wandering Ireland after Niall's death, forsaken by her kin, and reduced to begging from door to door, although this is thought to be a later invention rather than a tradition with a basis in fact.[28]
The second of Flann's known marriages was his union with Eithne, daughter of Áed Findliath, dated circa 877. Flann and Eithne's son Máel Ruanaid was killed in 901. Eithne was also married to Flannácan, King of Brega, by whom she had a son named Máel Mithig, although whether this preceded her marriage to Flann is unclear. It is likely that Flann divorced Eithne in order to follow the tradition of marrying his predecessor's widow, Eithne's stepmother. Eithne died as a nun in 917.[29]
His third wife,
The mothers of Flann Sinna's sons Óengus (died 915), Conchobar (king of Mide 916–919; died in battle against the "Foreigners" alongside his brother-in-law Niall Glúndub), Áed (blinded on Donnchad Donn's orders in 919), and Cerball are unknown, and likewise his daughter Muirgel (died 928), who was probably married to a Norse or Norse-Gael king.[27]
Assessment
The alternating succession of the northern and southern Uí Néill to the kingship of Tara would finally break down in the time of
When Flann's son Máel Ruanaid was killed in 901, the obituary in the Annals of Ulster states: "Máel Ruanaid son of Flann son of Máel Sechnaill, heir designate of Ireland, was killed by the Luigne".[30] The Annals of Ulster are derived from the Chronicle of Ireland, kept at Clonmacnoise, Flann's own monastery, and perhaps compiled in his lifetime.[31]
The description of Máel Ruanaid as "heir designate of Ireland" suggests to some that Flann planned to keep the kingship in his family, excluding the Cenél nEógain as the Cenél Conaill and Síl nÁedo Sláine had previously been excluded. The evident lack of filial loyalty among Flann's sons, Donnchad Donn being twice in rebellion against his father, may have prevented any such plans from coming to fruition. However, Óengus is called "heir designate of Temair [Tara]" in the notice of his death in 915.[32]
Benjamin Hudson suggested that it was only the vigorous campaigning by Niall Glúndub in Ulster and Connacht from 913 to 915, along with Óengus's fortuitous death, that led to Niall being named Flann's heir.
Later Clann Cholmáin kings were descended from Flann, as was
Flann's son Donnchad Donn, his grandson Congalach Cnogba, and his great grandson Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, all held the kingship of Tara, Máel Sechnaill being the last of the traditional Uí Néill high kings.
Image
Flann was served by Máel Mura Othna (died 887), "chief poet of Ireland". In 885 Máel Mura composed the praise poem Flann for Érinn (Flann over Ireland). This linked Flann with the deeds of the legendary Uí Néill ancestor Túathal Techtmar. As Máire Herbert notes, Máel Mura depicts Tuathal as a 9th-century ruler, taking hostages from lesser kings, compelling their obedience and founding his kingship over Ireland on force. The high king in Flann for Érinn has authority over the fir Érenn (the men of Ireland) and leads them in war. This is very different from the way the kingship of Flann's 6th century ancestor Diarmait mac Cerbaill is portrayed in early sources.
A concrete testimony to Flann's claims survives in the high crosses erected at Clonmacnoise and Kinnitty on Flann's orders which name him and his father rí Érenn, "King of Ireland". At the same time, the oratory at Clonmacnoise was rebuilt in stone on Flann's orders.[36]
Flann is credited with commissioning the earliest known cumdach, an ornamented book case, for the Book of Durrow.[37]
See also
- Early Medieval Ireland 800–1166
References
- ^ Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 233–238; Ó Corráin, "Ireland, Wales, Man, the Hebrides", pp. 83–88 & 93–94.
- ^ Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, p. 238.
- ^ Downham, Viking Kings, p. 13, table 4.
- ^ Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 238 & 244–247; Downham, Viking Kings, pp. 11–14, 274 & 276.; Ó Corráin, "Ireland, Wales, Man, the Hebrides", pp. 88–89.; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp. 596–597; Byrne, Irish Kings, pp. 262–263.
- ^ Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 250–251; Downham, Viking Kings, pp. 12–16; Ó Corráin, "Ireland, Wales, Man, the Hebrides", p. 90; Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, pp. 596–597; Byrne, Irish Kings, pp. 262–263.
- ^ Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 251–255; Downham, Viking Kings, pp. 17–23, 137–145, 238–241, 246 & 258–259; Ó Corráin, "Ireland, Wales, Man, the Hebrides", p. 90; Woolf, "Pictland to Alba", pp. 106–116.
- ISBN 0-7914-3455-9
- ^ Herbert, p. 63; Charles-Edwards, pp. 596–598.
- Giraldus Cambrensis apparently considered Feidlimid to have been king of Ireland. The previous non-Uí Néill King of Tara was Congal Cáech of the Dál nAraidi; see Charles-Edwards, pp. 494ff. The next would be Brian Bóruma.
- ^ Herbert, p.64; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 858.
- ^ Herbert, pp. 63–64.
- ^ Herbert, p.64; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 862; but see also Byrne, p. 266, who questions the meaning of the terminology used in later obits of kings of Tara.
- ^ For Áed Findliath's reign, see Byrne, pp. 265–266.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 877.
- ^ Woolf, "View", p. 92.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 882.
- ^ Ó Corráin, page number(s) wanting.
- ^ Quoted by Ó Cróinín, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 888; Woolf, "View", p. 93.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 889.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 893.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 898 & s.a. 902.
- ^ Hudson, Prophecy of Berchán, p. 77.
- ISBN 978-1-135-94824-5.
- ISBN 0-8014-8157-0.
- ^ Hudson, Prophecy of Berchán, p. 150.
- ^ a b c Doherty, "Flann Sinna".
- ^ Byrne, pp. 163–164; Johnston.
- ^ Woolf. "View", p. 93.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 901.
- ^ Woolf, "View", p. 90.
- ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 915.
- ^ Hudson, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Woolf, "View", p. 90, noting also that the Kings of Wessex faced comparable challenges from dispossessed branches of the Cerdicing dynasty.
- ^ Byrne, pp. 281–282; Woolf, "Pictish matriliny", p. 151.
- ^ Herbert, p. 64.
- ^ Ó Cróinín, pp. 83–84.
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