Domnall mac Muirecáin
Encyclopedia
Domnall mac Muirecáin was a King of Leinster of the Uí Fáeláin sept 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....

 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 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...

 (died 863), a previous king.

There is much confusion in the king lists during this period for Leinster. Francis John 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...

 suggests that the root of this apparent confusion lay in the fact that the Uí Dúnlainge kings exercised little real authority due to the aggressions of their western neighbour 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....

 (died 888), King of Osraige. Cerball, while unable to install himself as king of Leinster, was able to prevent any rival king exercising real power there.

Domnall would have succeeded his father as head of the Uí Fáeláin sept in 863. His predecessor as King of Leinster, Ailill mac Dúnlainge
Ailill mac Dúnlainge (died 871)
Ailill mac Dúnlainge was a King of Leinster of the Uí Muiredaig sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Maistiu in South Kildare in what is now Ireland. He was the son of Dúnlaing mac Muiredaig , a previous king. He ruled from 869-871.There is much...

 of the Uí Muiredaig sept had died in 871, however Muiredach mac Brain (died 885) of the Uí Dúnchada sept is associated with the Leinster forces in association with events in 870 and 875. According to the Chronicum Scotorum and other Irish annals, Domnall assumed the kingship of Leinster in 880. This would place his effective reign in 880-884.

In 874 the high king Áed Findliath (died 879) had invaded Leinster in an attempt to impose his authority and he plundered the country and burned churches including Cell Ausili. In 880 the new High King 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...

 (died 916) attacked Leinster and took hostages imposing his authority.

In 884 Domnall was killed by his own associates. His brother Cerball mac Muirecáin
Cerball mac Muirecáin
Cerball mac Muirecáin was king of Leinster. He was the son of Muirecán mac Diarmata and a member of the Uí Fáeláin, the descendants of Fáelán mac Murchado , of one of three septs of the Uí Dúnlainge of modern County Kildare in Ireland....

 (died 909) became King of Leinster in 885.

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