Diarmait mac Cerbaill
Encyclopedia
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...
. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
rituals of inauguration, the ban-feis or marriage to goddess of the land.
While many later stories were attached to Diarmait, he was a historical ruler and his descendants were of great significance in Medieval Ireland.
Sources
It is believed that the earliest of the Irish annalsIrish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
which came to make up the lost Chronicle of Ireland
Chronicle of Ireland
The Chronicle of Ireland is the modern name for a hypothesized collection of ecclesiastical annals recording events in Ireland from 432 to 911 AD....
were kept as a contemporary record from no later than the middle of the 7th century, and may be rather older as it has been argued that many late 6th century entries have the appearance of contemporary recording. There is general agreement that the annals are largely based, in their earliest contemporary records, on a chronicle kept at the monastery on Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
, and that the recording moved to somewhere in the midlands of Ireland only around 740. Although it is thus possible that the records of Diarmait's times in the annals are nearly contemporary, the later history of the annals is complex and much debated, so that it is uncertain to what extent surviving late annals such as 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...
and Annals of Tigernach
Annals of Tigernach
The Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish....
faithfully reproduce the earlier records. The sparsity of the annalistic record, its laconic manner of reporting, and the complex history behind the surviving records mean that there is little which can be stated with certainty concerning Diarmait mac Cerbaill's life and times.
As a significant ancestral figure, whose purported descendants included many leading kings from the 7th to early 11th centuries, Diarmait appears in many genealogical collections and related materials. While it was once supposed that such materials were to be relied upon, many modern historians doubt whether genealogies can be taken as evidence for anything more than political aspirations and beliefs in the milieu in which they were compiled. Reinforcing this view, Diarmait's recorded ancestry and family ties are believed to have been the subject of politically motivated changes in the centuries following his death.
Ireland in the 6th century
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....
.
Grandsons of Neill, tribe of Conn
According to later writings, Diarmait was the son of Fergus Cerrbél, son of Conall CremthainneConall Cremthainne
Conall Cremthainne , also called Conall Err Breg, was an Irish king. He was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and one of the progenitors of the Uí Néill dynasty....
, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
. As a great-grandson of Niall, he and his descendants were counted among the Uí Néill. The Uí Néill as such, the name means "grandsons of Niall", can only have existed in the time of Niall's grandsons, but its common usage may be later yet as an earlier term moccu Chuinn is attested as late as the time of Saint Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
(died c. 597), a great-grandson of Niall's son Conall Gulban
Conall Gulban
Conall Gulban was an Irish king who founded the kingdom of Tír Conaill in the 5th century, comprising much of what is now County Donegal. He was the son of Niall Noígiallach....
. This, incorporating the Primitive Irish language
Primitive Irish language
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages. It is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Great Britain from around the 4th century to 7th or 8th century.-Characteristics:Transcribed...
gentilic or demonym
Demonym
A demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet, in english, the one...
moccu—the masculine term, the feminine is dercu—indicates membership of the tribe of Conn, presumed to be named for Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn Cétchathach , son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland, and the ancestor of the Connachta, and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Ireland in the early middle ages, and...
, a legendary figure, or perhaps a euhemerised divinity, claimed as the ancestor of the Connachta
Connachta
The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King Conn Cétchathach...
. Moccu was later often misread or misunderstood by later writers, for whom gentilic names were alien and parentelic ones familiar, as a compound of mac and ua—son of the grandson of someone—an error likely to have resulted in many later genealogical confusions as members of the same tribe were turned into cognatic
Cognatic
Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor or ancestress counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother....
blood relatives.
As for the reality, Byrne
Francis John Byrne
Francis John Byrne is an Irish historian.Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II...
says: "Diarmait's immediate origins are obscure and may arouse some suspicion." He notes that Adomnán calls Diarmait filius Cerbulis, son of Cerball, and not son of Fergus as the genealogies would have it. The same applies to other hagiographical materials, which again have Diarmait as the son of an otherwise unknown Cerball. Also likely to raise suspicion that Diarmait's genealogy is a later fiction, is the fact that unlike the majority of the Uí Néill, who traced their descent from, and were named for, sons of Niall, Diarmait's descendants were named for his sons.
Reign
The Annals of TigernachAnnals of Tigernach
The Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish....
record that Diarmait celebrated the Feast of Tara, his inauguration as King, in 558 or 560. The previous King of Tara, according to the earliest lists, was Óengarb, an epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
meaning "extremely rough", presumed to refer to Diarmait's kinsman Tuathal Maelgarb
Tuathal Maelgarb
Túathal mac Cormaic , called Túathal Máelgarb, was said to be a grandson of Coirpre mac Néill. He was High King of Ireland. In the earliest accounts he appears to have been regarded as the man who completed the conquest of what would later be Brega for the descendants of Niall of the Nine...
. What followed the inauguration was "a surprisingly unpropitious reign for so famous a king".
Diarmait was defeated at the battle of Cúl Dreimne (near Ben Bulben
Ben Bulben
Ben Bulben, sometimes spelt Benbulben or Benbulbin , is a large rock formation in County Sligo, Ireland. It is part of the Dartry Mountains, an area sometimes called "Yeats Country".Ben Bulben is listed as a protected structure....
in modern County Sligo) in 560 or 561. This was the "Battle of the Books", supposedly the result of Diarmait's judgement in a dispute between Columba and Finnian of Moville
Finnian of Moville
Finnian of Movilla Abbey, Irish Christian missionary, 495–589.-Origins and life:Finnian was a Christian missionary who became a legendary figure in medieval Ireland. He should not to be confused with his namesake Finnian of Clonard...
. Columba, it is said, had secretly copied a book beloning to Finnian, and the matter of ownership of the copy had come to be settled by Diarmait, who adjudged in Finnian's favour, reportedly saying "[t]o every cow its calf and to every book its copy." Columba sought support from his kinsmen among the Cenél Conaill
Cenél Conaill
The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....
and the Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...
of the northern Uí Néill who went to war with Diarmait. This is a late tradition, and annalistic accounts claim that the battle was fought over Diarmait's killing of Diarmait of Curnán, son of Áed mac Echach
Áed mac Echach
Áed mac Echach Tirmcharna was a King of Connacht from the Uí Briúin branch of the Connachta. He was the son of Echu Tirmcharna mac Fergusso . He came to the throne in the year 557 and ruled till 575....
(d.575), the King of Connacht who was under Columba's protection.
Following this defeat, Diarmait lost the battle of Cúil Uinsen to Áed mac Brénainn, king of Tethbae in Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
. Diarmait played no part in the great Uí Néill victory over the Cruthin
Cruthin
The Cruthin were a people of early Ireland, who occupied parts of Counties Down, Antrim and Londonderry in the early medieval period....
at Móin Daire Lothair in 563. He was killed in 565, probably at Ráith Bec in Mag Line (Moylinny, near Larne
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
) in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. 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...
by Áed Dub mac Suibni
Áed Dub mac Suibni
Áed Dub mac Suibni was an Irish king of the Cruthin of Dál nAraidi . He may have been king of the Ulaid.Áed Dub — Black Áed — killed the last pagan High King of Ireland, Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Tradition has Diarmaid die a mythic threefold death, and some version make Áed Diarmaid's...
, king of the Cruthin.
According to the later Irish historians, Diarmait was followed as King of Tara by Domnall Ilchegalch and Forguss, sons of Muirchertach mac Ercae, of the Cenél nEógain. More contemporary sources suggest that the Kingship of Tara all but disappeared in the years following Diarmait's death, and that it was not until the time of Domnall mac Áedo
Domnall mac Áedo
Domnall mac Áedo , also known as Domnall II, was a son of Áed mac Ainmuirech. Domnall was High King of Ireland from 628 until his death. He belonged to the Cenél Conaill kindred of the northern Uí Néill....
, or perhaps of Fiachnae mac Báetáin
Fiachnae mac Báetáin
Fiachnae mac Báetáin , also called Fiachnae Lurgan or Fiachnae Find, was king of the Dál nAraidi and high-king of the Ulaid in the early 7th century. He was a son of Báetán mac Echdach and brother of Fiachra Cáech Fiachnae mac Báetáin (died 626), also called Fiachnae Lurgan or Fiachnae Find, was...
, that there was a High King of Ireland again.
Saints and Druids
Adomnán of IonaAdomnán of Iona
Saint Adomnán of Iona was abbot of Iona , hagiographer, statesman and clerical lawyer; he was the author of the most important Vita of Saint Columba and promulgator of the "Law of Innocents", lex innocentium, also called Cáin Adomnáin, "Law of Adomnán"...
, writing less than 150 years after Diarmait's death, describes him as "ordained by God's will as king of all Ireland." Given that the annals say that Diarmait celebrated the Feast of Tara, the pagan inauguration ceremony, Adomnán's words represent his view of kingship rather than the reality of Diarmait's life. Most traditions portray Diarmait as in conflict with saints and holy men, notably Columba. A later poet has Diarmait say "Woe to him that contends with the clergy of the churches".
A poem, Mairg thochras fri cléirchib cell ("Woe to him who contends with the clergy of the churches") in the Book of Leinster, is ascribed to Diarmait.
Aided Diarmata
Supernatural features in Diarmait's reign are not limited to prose and verse works or to lives of saints. Even the Irish annalsIrish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
include a reference to druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
fences being created at the battle of Cúl Dreimne. The main subject for later writers and poets however, was not Diarmait's life but his death.
Diarmait is told by Bec mac Dé
Bec mac Dé
Bec mac Dé , Irish druid, died 557.Bec mac Dé was known as the greatest seer of all time. He could speak with nine men at once and answer all their questions with a single reply....
that Áed Dub, Diarmait's foster-son, will be his killer. Accordingly, Diarmait banishes Áed Dub. Saint Ruadán gives the prophecy that Diarmait will be killed by the roof-beam of his hall at Tara. Diarmait has the beam cast into the sea. Diarmait then asks his druids to find the manner of his death, and they foretell that he will die a threefold death
Threefold death
The threefold death, which is suffered by kings, heroes, and gods, is a putatively Proto-Indo-European theme – although it is attested in medieval accounts of Celtic and Germanic mythology....
, by slaughter, drowning and burning, and that the signs of his death will be a shirt grown from a single seed of flax, a mantle made of wool from a single sheep, ale brewed from one seed of corn, and bacon from a sow which has never farrowed. On a circuit of Ireland, Diarmait comes to the hall of Banbán at Ráith Bec, and there the fate of which he was warned comes to pass. The roof beam of Tara has been recovered from the sea by Banbán and set in his hall, the shirt and mantle and ale and bacon are duly produced for Diarmait. Diarmait goes to leave Banbán's hall, but Áed Dub, waiting at the door, strikes him down and sets fire to the hall. Diarmait crawls into an ale vat to escape the flames and is duly killed by the falling roof beam. Thus, all the prophecies are fulfilled.
Like tales are told of Muirchertach mac Ercae and Adomnán records that Columba prophesied a similar death, by wounding, falling and drowning, for Áed Dub.
Descendants
- Síl nÁedo SláineSíl nÁedo SláineSíl nÁedo Sláine is the name of the descendants of Áed Sláine , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne....
from Áed Sláine - Clann CholmáinClann CholmáinClann 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...
from Colmán Már - Caílle Follamain from Colmán BecColmán BecColmán mac Diarmato was an Irish king, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Early sources and older scholarship distinguish two sons of Diarmait, Colmán Bec and Colmán Már , although it is now supposed that only Colmán Bec was a historical figure, Colmán Már being a later genealogical invention...
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.
- Revised edition of McCarthy's synchronisms at Trinity College Dublin.
- The Death of Dermot at Ancient Texts.