decided not to risk all on a wager of battle and gave
Mac Lochlainn hostages. Tairrdelbach’s long mar-
riage to Derbforgaill, daughter of Mac Lochlainn,
ended with her death on pilgrimage to Armagh that
year, prompting him to wed Dubchoblach, daughter
of Ua Máelruanaid (d. 1168).
Yet Tairrdelbach remained supreme over much of
southern Ireland. In 1152, he met Mac Lochlainn again
near Ballyshannon and renewed their peace. But peace
was the last thing on his mind, for he banished Ua
Briain into the north before dividing Munster again.
With Mac Murchada, he evened scores with Ua Ruairc,
briefly giving his kingdom to a rival before restoring
him. In 1153, he compelled Mac Murchada to return
Ua Ruairc’s wife before marching against Ua Briain.
But his banishment of Ua Briain to the north brought
Mac Lochlainn south. On the approach of the northern
army into Mide, Tairrdelbach ordered the retreat to
Connacht, but Mac Lochlainn mauled the rearguard
under Ruaidrí. Tairrdelbach’s reluctance to challenge
Mac Lochlainn may have been due to poor health, as
the annals record a serious illness late that year. In
1154, he recovered enough to resume sparring with his
northern rival, joining his fleet to plunder Tír Conaill
and Inishowen, enjoying a major naval victory over
Mac Lochlainn’s hired Hebridean fleets. On land, Mac
Lochlainn was stronger, invading east Connacht that
year. And to Tairrdelbach’s chagrin, he divided Mide
in 1155 despite Ruaidrí’s resistance. During early 1156
Tairrdelbach obtained some redress, undermining Mac
Lochlainn’s support in southern Ireland. Then Ua Briain
submitted and Ua Ruairc agreed to a peace until May.
The old man did not get the chance to break the peace,
as this great king died aged 68 at his capital of Dunmore
and was buried beside the altar in the church of
Clonmacnoise. During Tairrdelbach’s life, he married
seven times, fathering a recorded three daughters and ten
sons. He was survived by his seventh wife Dubchoblach
and was succeeded as king of Connacht by his son
Ruaidrí.
EMMETO’BYRNE
References and Further Reading
Hennessy, W. and B. Mac Carthy, ed. The Annals of Ulster. 4 vols.
Dublin, 1887–1901.
———.The Annals of Loch Cé. 2 vols. London, 1871.
O’Donovan, John, ed. The Annals of the Four Masters. 7 vols.
Dublin, 1851.
Ó hInnse, Séamus, ed. Miscellaneous Irish Annals. Dublin Irish
Manuscript Commission, 1947.
Mac Airt, Seán. The Annals of Inisfallen. Dublin: Dublin Insti-
tute for Advanced Studies, 1951.
Murphy, Denis. The Annals of Clonmacnoise. Dublin: Royal
Irish Academy, 1896.
Stokes, Whitley, ed. “The Annals of Tigernach.” Rev. Celt16–18
(1895–1897).
See alsoMac Lochlainn, Muirchertach; Mac
Murchada, Diarmait; Ua Briain, Muirchertach;
Ua Briain, TairrdelbachUA CONCHOBHAIR-FÁILGE
This Irish lordship comprised eastern Co. Offaly and
northern Co. Laois. At the time of the Anglo-Norman
invasion, the Ua Conchobhair-Fáilge quickly came to
an agreement with the invaders. Little is known of this
initial arrangement, but it probably reflected the pat-
tern of loose overlordship which had governed rela-
tions between Irish kings and their subkings prior to
the Anglo-Norman invasion. The Ua Conchobhair-
Fáilge retained much of their lordship after the inva-
sion because of the wooded and boggy character of
the region, however the land lost to the Anglo-Irish
consisted of the best agricultural land. The 1270s saw
a general increase in hostility between the surviving
Irish lordships in Leinster and the Anglo-Irish of that
province, and the initial agreement between the Ua
Conchobhair-Fáilge and the Anglo-Irish seems to have
collapsed around that time. It has been suggested that
this change in relations was due to Anglo-Irish efforts
to transform their loose overlordship into more formal
tenurial lordship during the thirteenth century, but fur-
ther factors, such as the absence of the Archbishop of
Dublin (a major landholder in Leinster) and the minor-
ity of the lord of Offaly (an important local magnate),
probably explain the timing of this increased hostility.
By the end of the thirteenth century, the royal gov-
ernment in Ireland had given two local magnates—John
fitz Thomas, lord of Offaly, and Piers Bermingham—
responsibility for pacifying the region, but with little
success. A key event during this period was Piers Ber-
mingham’s murder of the ruler of the Ua Conchobhair-
Fáilge and some of his men at a feast in 1305. These
murders were the subject of considerable comment and
condemnation in contemporary Irish sources, and spe-
cial note was made of them in the Remonstrance of
the Irish Princes(a condemnation of English rule in
Ireland sent to Pope John XXII around 1317, during
Edward Bruce’s invasion of Ireland). Bermingham’s
aim may have been to render the Ua Conchobhair-
Fáilge leaderless, making them easier to bring to
peace, but the murders led to increased warfare in the
region. Throughout the fourteenth century, the relation-
ship between the Anglo-Irish and the Ua Conchobhair-
Fáilge continued to be unstable. Sporadic warfare and
endemic raiding continued throughout the century.
During the late fourteenth and early fifteenth cen-
turies a succession of strong Ua Conchobhair-Fáilge
leaders were able to gain the advantage against the
Anglo-Irish of Meath and Kildare through a series of
successful raids and campaigns, beginning a period ofUA CONCHOBAIR, TAIRRDELBACH (1088–1156)