Ragnall mac Gofraid was a Norse-Gael

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...

 King of the Isles of Scotland during the early eleventh century. Ragnall's Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 name was Røgnvaldr Guðrøðsson and he was titled rí na nInnsi meaning that he ruled over the Hebrides

Hebrides

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

. It is also possible his territory included the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

.

Very little is known of his life save that he was the son of Gofraid mac Arailt

Gofraid mac Arailt

Gofraid mac Arailt , in Old Norse Guðrøðr Haraldsson, was a Scandinavian or Norse-Gael king. He and his brother Maccus were active in the lands around the Irish Sea in the 970s and 980s.-Origins:...

, who died in 989 and that Ragnall himself died in 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...

 in 1004 or 1005. His presence in Munster may indicate an alliance with Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig

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...

 against the growing strength in the western seas of Sigurd the Stout the Earl of Orkney

Earl of Orkney

The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland. The Earls were periodically subject to the kings of Norway for the Northern Isles, and later also to the kings of Alba for those parts of their territory in mainland Scotland . The Earl's...

 & Mormaer of Caithness. Sigurd was a vassal of the King of Norway who appointed a jarl

Earl

An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...

called Gilli

Gilli (jarl)

Gilli, also known as Gilla, was an early 11th century Norse-Gaelic lord. According to Njáls saga, Gilli was a Hebridean jarl, centred at on the island of Coll, who paid tribute to his brother-in-law, Sigurðr 'the Stout', Jarl of Orkney . Historian Barbara E. Crawford suggested that Gilli must have...

 to rule over the Western Isles in 990, the year following Gofraid's death and Sigurd resumed direct control of the isles following Ragnall's death. It is therefore possible that Ragnall's rule was either only over part of the territory of the Sudreyar or was wrested back from Sigurd in the year's following his father's death, or both.

Hudson (2005) contends that Echmarcach mac Ragnaill

Echmarcach mac Ragnaill

Echmarcach mac Ragnaill was the Gall-Gaidhel King of the Isles, Dublin , and much of Galloway. According to Seán Duffy he was either a grandson or great-grandson of Ivar of Waterford, but an alternative exists. Benjamin Hudson has contended Echmarcach was a grandson of Gofraid mac Arailt...

 was Ragnall's son, which may make Cacht ingen Ragnaill

Cacht ingen Ragnaill

Cacht ingen Ragnaill was the queen of Donnchad mac Briain, from their marriage in 1032 to her death in 1054, when she is styled Queen of Ireland in the Irish annals of the Clonmacnoise group: the Annals of Tigernach and Chronicon Scotorum...

, the queen of Donnchad mac Briain

Donnchad mac Briain

Donnchadh mac Briain , formerly anglicised as Donough O'Brian, son of Brian Bóruma and Gormflaith ingen Murchada, was King of Munster.-Background:...

, Ragnall's daughter. Echmarcach was King of Dublin from 1036–38 and 1046-52 and the King of the Rhinns

Kingdom of the Rhinns

Na Renna, or the Kingdom of the Rhinns, was a Norse-Gaelic lordship which appears in the 11th century records. The Rhinns was a province in medieval Scotland, and comprised, along with Farines, the later county of Wigtown...

in Galloway, and may have ruled over part of the Hebrides as well.