Cerball mac Muirecáin was king of Leinster

Kings of Leinster

The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...

. He was the son of Muirecán mac Diarmata

Muirecán mac Diarmata

Muirecán mac Diarmata was a King of Leinster of the Uí Fáeláin sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Naas in the eastern part of the Liffey plain, Airthir Liphi. He was the son Diarmait mac Ruadrach , King of Airthir Liphi...

 and a member of the Uí Fáeláin, the descendants of Fáelán mac Murchado (died 738), of one of three sept

Sept

A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...

s of the Uí Dúnlainge

Uí Dúnlainge

The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ancestor of the rival Uí Chennselaig....

 of modern County Kildare

County Kildare

County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Cerball succeeded his distant cousin Muiredach mac Brain of the Uí Dúnchada sept as king of Leinster on Muiredach's death in 885. Unlike Muiredach, who was lay abbot

Lay abbot

Lay abbot is a name used to designate a layman on whom a king or someone in authority bestowed an abbey as a reward for services rendered; he had charge of the estate belonging to it, and was entitled to part of the income.This custom existed principally in the Frankish Empire from the eighth...

 of Kildare

Kildare

-External links:*******...

 as well as king, Cerball appears to have been king only as one Lergus son of Cruinnén, bishop of Kildare

Bishop of Kildare

The Bishop of Kildare was an episcopal title which took its name after the town of Kildare in County Kildare, Ireland. The title is no longer in use by any of the main Christian churches having been united with other bishoprics. In the Roman Catholic Church, the title has been merged with that of...

, was killed in the battle of the Pilgrim, fought by Flann Sinna

Flann Sinna

Flann Sinna was the son of Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid of Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the southern Uí Néill. He was King of Mide from 877 onwards and is counted as a High King of Ireland...

, the High King of Ireland

High King of Ireland

The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

, against the Vikings of Dublin in 888. That same year, the neighbouring king of Osraige Cerball mac Dúnlainge

Cerball mac Dúnlainge

Cerball mac Dúnlainge was king of Osraige in south-east Ireland. The kingdom of Osraige occupied roughly the area of modern County Kilkenny and lay between the larger provincial kingdoms of Munster and Leinster....

, who had repeatedly attacked Leinster over the previous decades in an attempt to make it subject to him, died.

The Annals of Ulster

Annals of Ulster

The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...

 contain relatively few reports of Cerball's reign. In 902 they state that he, together with Máel Finnia mac Flannacain of Brega

Kings of Brega

-Overview:Brega took its name from Mag Breg, the plain of Brega, in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of the Uí Néill kindred, belonging to the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill. The kingdom of Brega included the Hill of Tara, the site...

 lead an expedition to Dublin which drove the "foreigners", the Vikings and Norse-Gaels

Norse-Gaels

The Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...

, from Ireland. He fought alongside Flann (whose daughter Gormflaith ingen Flann Sinna

Gormflaith ingen Flann Sinna

Gormflaith ingen Flann Sinna, Queen of Tara, c. 870-948.-Family background:Gormflaith was the daughter of Flann Sinna, High King of Ireland from 879 to 916. Her mother was Gormlaith ingen Flann mac Conaing of Brega...

 he married), against the men of Munster

Munster

Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...

 at the battle of Belach Mugna (Ballymoon near Castledermot

Castledermot

Castledermot is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford passes through the village but completion of a bypass is due during 2010.-Demographics:...

) where Cormac mac Cuilennáin

Cormac mac Cuilennáin

Cormac mac Cuilennáin was an Irish bishop and was king of Munster from 902 until his death. He was killed fighting in Leinster, probably attempting to restore the fortunes of the kings of Munster by reimposing authority over that province.Cormac was regarded as a saintly figure after his death,...

, King of Munster and Bishop of Cashel

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in mid-western Ireland. The diocese is in the secular province of Munster. The Diocese of Cashel was established in 1111 by the Synod of Rathbreasail and promoted to the status of a Metropolitan Province in 1152 by the...

, was killed.

Cerball died in 909, when the Annals of Ulster report:

Cerball son of Muirecán, an excellent king of the Laigin, died of a sickness.

Given the biases of the Annals of Ulster, it is understood that Cerball had been a reliable ally of his father-in-law Flann Sinna. He was memoralised in a poem by his poet, Dallán mac Móre

Dallán mac Móre

Dallán mac Móre, fl. c. 900, was an Irish poet, and chief bard to King Cerball mac Muirecáin of Leinster Dallán mac Móre, fl. c. 900, was an Irish poet, and chief bard to King Cerball mac Muirecáin of Leinster Dallán mac Móre, fl. c. 900, was an Irish poet, and chief bard to King Cerball mac...

.

After Cerball's death, Gormflaith married Niall Glúndub

Niall Glúndub

Niall Glúndub mac Áedo was a 10th century Irish king of the Cenél nEógain and High King of Ireland. While many Irish kin groups were members of the Uí Néill, tracing their descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages , the O'Neill dynasty took their name from Niall Glúndub rather than the earlier Niall...

. Later traditions had it that she had wished to marry Cormac mac Cuilennáin, but that he had taken vows of celibacy, so for reasons of state she was married to the brutal Cerball, before finding a short period of happiness with Niall, who died in battle in 917. These tales appear to be largely poetic invention.

Cerball was succeeded by his distant cousin Augaire mac Ailella

Augaire mac Ailella

Augaire mac Ailella was the king of Leinster, Ireland king who is said to have led the Irish forces at the Battle of Confey circa 915-917 AD. The Irish were defeated by Vikings under King Sigtrygg Caech from Dublin...

of the Uí Muiredaig sept. He himself had no recorded issue.

External links

• CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork The Corpus of Electronic Texts includes the Annals of Ulster and the Four Masters, the Chronicon Scotorum and the Book of Leinster as well as Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress