Reign:	1205–1239
Predecessor:	Maelsechlainn Beag Ó Melaghlain
Successor:	Diarmait Ruadh Ó Melaghlin
Date of Birth:	1182?
Place of Birth:	Clonlonan, Westmeath, 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...
Wife:	?
Buried:	Clonmacnoise Clonmacnoise The monastery of Clonmacnoise is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone.... ?
Date of Death:	1239
Parents:	Art mac Mael Sechlainn Ó Melaghlin and ?

Cormac mac Art Ó Melaghlain, was King of Mide from about 1205 to 1239. He was acknowledged as one of the most ferocious and formidable opponents of the Normans

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 since their arrival in Ireland. He died at Inisdowginn on the river Suck, near Dunlo in Hy-Many

Hy-Many

Uí Maine, often incorrectly Anglicised as Hy Many, was one of the oldest and largest kingdoms located in Connacht, Ireland. Its territory of approximately encompassed all of what is now north, east and south County Galway, south and central County Roscommon, an area near County Clare, and at one...

, in 1239.

Kings and High-Kings

Cormac was born sometime in the early 1180s to the King of Mide, Art mac Mael Sechlainn meic Domnaill Ua Mael Sechlainn, who reigned from 1173 to 1184. His family had being rulers of the Kingdom of Mide

Kingdom of Mide

Mide , spelt Midhe in modern Irish and anglicised as Meath, was a medieval kingdom in Ireland for over 1,000 years. Its name means "middle", denoting the fact that lay in the middle of Ireland....

 since at least the early 6th century. Initially known as the Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...

, they were a branch of the southern Uí Néill

Uí Néill

The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....

. They had taken the surname Ua Mael Sechlainn after their prestigious ancestor, Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid

Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid

Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid was High King of Ireland. The Annals of Ulster use the Old Irish title rí hÉrenn uile, that is "king of all Ireland", when reporting his death, distinguishing Máel Sechnaill from the usual Kings of Tara who are only called High Kings of Ireland in late sources such...

, who reigned as 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...

 from 845 to 860; his greatest achievement was in preventing the Vikings from controlling any substantial part of the island and confining them to the coasts. One of his descendants, and another of Cormac's ancestors, was Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill

Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill

Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill , also called Máel Sechnaill Mór, Máel Sechnaill II, anglicized Malachy II, was King of Mide and High King of Ireland...

 Ua Maelsechlainn (known as Máel Sechnaill II) who was High King before and after the reign of Brian Boru

Brian Boru

Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...

.

Yet from the death of Máel Sechnaill II in 1022 the rulers of Mide had lost much of their previous strength and authority to rival dynasties such as the O Briens (Kings of Munster), the O Conchobhars (Kings of Connacht

Kings of Connacht

The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the cóiced of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named after The Connachta.The old name for the province was Cóiced Ol nEchmacht . Ptolemy's map of c. 150 AD...

) and the Mac Murchadhs of Ui Cheinnselaigh (Kings 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...

. Despite, or perhaps because of, its situation in central Ireland, Mide found itself being used as a pawn in the power-struggles of the newly-dominant kingdoms, as real power on the island shifted to the previously marginalised dynasties of Leinster, Munster and Connacht. Caught between these three super-powers, in addition to predation from their northern kinsmen, the Kings of Ailech

Kings of Ailech

The Kings of Ailech belonged to the northern Uí Néill and took their name from the Grianán of Ailech , a hillfort on top of Greenan Mountain in modern County Donegal...

, it became a matter of survival to become an ally of one or be seized by all. Therefore, during the long reign (1119–1156) of Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair

Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair

Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair , anglicized Turlough Mór O'Connor, was King of Connacht and High King of Ireland .-Family background:...

, Mide was annexed by Connacht.