launched a successful attack on Dublin in 849. In 851
he killed the king of North Brega, who had burned the
churches and fortresses of South Brega in cooperation
with the Vikings. In the same year Máel-Sechnaill
organized a royal conference with the king of Ulaid at
Armagh, but it remains uncertain whether this was
related to the presence of the Vikings. In the following
years he concentrated on the subjugation of Munster,
which no king of Tara had attempted before. In 854
and 856, he took hostages of the province, and hence
his authority nominally covered the whole island of
Ireland. In the meantime the Vikings had gained in
strength with the arrival of Amlaíb (Olaf) and Imar
(Ivar) on the scene. In 856, Máel-Sechnaill attempted
to curb their activities by hiring Gall-Goídil (Norse-
Irish) as his mercenaries to fight for him. The situation
rapidly escalated. In the south the Vikings teamed up
with Cerball of Osraige, and in the north Áed Finnliath,
king of Ailech, and Flann, king of North Brega, were
also hostile toward the ambitious king of Tara. This
did not stop Máel-Sechnaill from taking the hostages
of Munster once again in 858. The next year saw the
war being carried to Mide itself, and Máel-Sechnaill
reacted by hosting a royal conference at the border
between Mide and Munster. Supported by the Irish
clergy, he forged an alliance with Cerball of Osraige,
who may have married Máel-Sechnaill’s daughter
Ailbi on this occasion. The agreement was warranted
by the king of Munster, who was killed by Vikings the
next year. Having pacified the south, Máel-Sechnaill
gathered the forces of the southern Uí Néill, Munster,
Leinster, and Connacht, and marched to Armagh in
- This unprecedented show of force was insufficient
to bring Áed Finnliath and Flann to heel. In the fol-
lowing years, they were joined by the Vikings in their
attacks on Mide. Máel-Sechnaill’s power waned, and
he died in 862. The contemporary Annals of Ulster
style him “king of all Ireland,” which reflects his nom-
inal kingship over the island.
Although Domnall mac Áeda (d. 642) and his
grandson Loingsech (d. 703) of Cenél Conaill are also
called “king of Ireland” in early sources, it is uncertain
whether they had received the submission of all the
Irish provincial kings. In Máel-Sechnaill’s case it is
clear that he did so. Even if his authority over the island
was temporary and disputed, he had shown that a king
of Tara was capable of dominating all Ireland. Typi-
cally, there were other Uí Néill kings who resisted him,
and who could not be won over by diplomacy or force.
The Vikings played an important part in the overall
struggles, but in the long run they remained mercenar-
ies rather than political allies. After 862, they went
back to raiding in Ireland and overseas, or teamed up
with the enemies of Áed Finnliath and Flann Áed
Finnliath (king of Tara 863–879) never matched the
successes of Máel-Sechnaill in the south, unlike his
successor Flann Sinna (king of Tara 879 916). Flann
was born in 848 or 849, and was the only son of Máel-
Sechnaill and Lann, the sister of Cerball, who later
married Áed Finnliath. On his turn, Flann later married
another wife of Áed Finnliath, the daughter of the king
of Scotland. Such marriages were largely symbolic,
but maintained the close bonds between the leading
branches of the Uí Néill. The period around 850 to
940 witnessed a number of strong kings of Tara, but
at the same time the Uí Néill were disintegrating. After
the reign of Máel-Sechnaill II (d. 1022), the kingship
of Tara lost its old meaning.
BART JASKIReferences and Further Reading
Ó Corráin, Donncha[dh]. Gill History of Ireland.Vol. 2, Ireland
before the Normans, pp. 99–101. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan,
1972.
Byrne, Francis John. Irish kings and high kings. London:
Batsford, 1973. Reprint, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001.
Jaski, Bart. “The Vikings and the Kingship of Tara.” Peritia:
Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland9 (1995):
310–351.
See alsoCerball mac Dúngaile; Mide; Munster;
Osraige; Uí Néill, Southern; VikingsMÁEL-SECHNAILL II (949/950–1022)
Máel-Sechnaill II was the son of Domnall Donn and
was the last great king of his dynasty, Clann Cholmáin
of Mide, which had been a powerful force in Irish
politics since the mid-eighth century. He was also the
last of the “old-style” kings of Tara, who claimed to be
over kings of both the southern and the northern Uí Néill
and their traditional allies. His reign was marked by
his control over Dublin, his struggle with Brian Boru
of Munster, and further disintegration of the Uí Néill.
After Brian’s death in 1014, Máel-Sechnaill was the
most powerful king in Ireland, and he temporarily
managed to act as a king of Tara of old.Career
With the death of Muirchertach “of the Leather
Cloaks,” king of Ailech, in 943, and of Máel-Sechnaill’s
grandfather, Donnchad Donn son of Flann Sinna, king
of Tara, a year later, the Uí Néill were in disarray.
There was no agreed successor to the kingship of Tara,
which was contested by two outsiders. With the death
of Ruaidri ua Canannáin of Cenél Conaill in 950,
Congalach Cnogba of Brega came out as the winner.
Until his death in 956, he tried to keep the kings of
Mide under his authority. He was aided by the factMÁEL-SECHNAILL I (D. 862)