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See alsoLaw Schools; Learned Families;
Law Tracts
MAC CARTHAIG, CORMAC (fl. 1138)
King of Munster 1123–1138, Cormac Mac Carthaig
was the second son of Muiredach mac Carthaig of
Éoganacht Chaisil, a branch of the Éoganachta group
of dynasties who ruled Munster from the early medi-
eval period until Brian Boru and the Dál Cais from
north Munster supplanted them in 978. In 1070, the
Uí Briain wrested the Éoganacht ancestral lands at
Caisel (Cashel, Co. Tipperary) from them, and in
Muiredach mac Carthaig’s reign as king of Éoganacht
Chaisil, they migrated westward and occupied territory
in north Cork around Duhallow. The family took the
surname of Mac Carthaig from Cormac’s grandfather,
Carthach (d. 1045). Up to 1114, Muirchertach Ua Briain
was the undisputed king of Munster and de facto king
of Ireland. This situation changed after a serious ill-
ness, and he retired from active life, dying in 1119.
Cormac’s elder brother Tadc became king of Éoganacht
Chaisil around 1116 and began building support for
the Mac Carthaig position, gaining support first from
within Éoganacht Chaisil and then from other Éoganacht
branches. By 1118, he had control over south Munster,
and when the Uí Briain tried to reassert Dál Cais
control, Tadc met them at Glanmire in County Cork
and won a decisive battle. Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair,
king of Connacht, was at this time making a bid for
the high kingship of Ireland and decided that it was
in his best interests to keep Munster weak. He made
a treaty with Tadc and Cormac Mac Carthaigh at
Glanmire in 1118, formally recognizing Tadc as king
of Desmond (south Munster), and the sons of Diarmait
Ua Briain were given charge of Thomond (north
Munster). From then on Ua Conchobair, king of
Connacht, was the leading dynast in Ireland and
divided Munster in 1121, 1122, and 1123. The Mac
Carthaig brothers, Tadc and Cormac, led an expedition
into Osraige in 1120 with some success as its king,
Mac Gilla Pátraic, submitted at first. However the
UíBriain intervened and captured the Osraige hostages
and handed them over to Conchobar Ua Conchobair
wholaunched a series of attacks on Desmond in 1121
and 1123, destroying up to seventy churches. By early
1122, Tadc was forced to submit and was deposed the
following year after a serious illness. His brother Cormac
succeeded him and by all accounts was an inspiring
political leader as well as an outstanding patron of the
twelfth-century church reforms. In 1124, he became
the first Éoganacht king of all Munster for 150 years.
Between 1128 and 1131, he commissioned Caithréim
Chellacháin Chaisil, ostensibly a biography of a
tenth-century ancestor of the Mac Carthaig, Cellachán
Chaisil, but in reality a propaganda tract on his family’s
behalf. From 1124, Mac Carthaig was one of the lead-
ers of an alliance against Ua Conchobair. In 1125,
he seized the kingship of Limerick. He challenged
UaConchobair in 1126 but was defeated, following
which his subkings deposed him and gave the king-
ship to his brother Donnchad. Cormac retired to the
monastery of Lismore in 1127, and later that year
Donnchad Mac Carthaig, with the chief subkings of
Munster, submitted to Ua Conchobair who divided
Munster again between Donnchad Mac Carthaig and
Conchobar Ua Briain. This caused an extraordinary and
unique reaction in Munster. Conchobar and Tairrdelbach
Ua Briain went to Lismore and offered Cormac the
kingship of Munster, the first time since the Dál Cais
had seized the kingship of Munster from the Éoganachta
in the tenth century that they had recognized an
Éoganacht king, possibly seeing in Cormac the only
leader capable of defeating Ua Conchobair. The alliance
between Cormac and the Uí Briain was successful and
produced the main opposition to Ua Conchobair’s pre-
tensions to the high kingship. With allies from Connacht
and Mide, Mac Carthaig attacked Ua Conchobair, and
in 1133 the Treaty of Abhaill Cathearne was concluded,
the conditions of which marked the collapse of Ua
Conchobair’s supremacy and at which he agreed to con-
fine his ambitions to Connacht. In 1134, the church built
by “Cormac son of Muiredach mac Carthaig,” now
known as “Cormac’s Chapel” on the Rock of Cashel in
County Tipperary was consecrated. The annals record
that Mac Carthaig became king of Osraige as well as
Munster in 1136. The alliance between Mac Carthaig
and the Uí Briain broke down in 1133, and a bitter
struggle developed between them. In 1138, Cormac was
murdered at the behest of Tairrdelbach Ua Briain, who
seized the kingship of Munster.
LETITIA CAMPBELLMAC AODHAGÁIN (Mac EGAIN)