| Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill | |
|---|---|
| High King of Ireland | |
| Reign | 980-1002 1014-1022 |
| Died | 2 September 1022 |
| Place of death | Lough Ennel, County Westmeath |
| Buried | Armagh |
| Consort | Gormflaith ingen Murchada, Máel Muire ingen Amlaíb |
| Offspring | Conchobar (d 1030), Flann (d 1013), Congalach (d 1017), Domnall (d 1019), Murchad Rua (d 1049), Muirchertach (d 1049)[1] |
| Father | Domnall Donn[2] mac Donnchada (d 952)[1] |
| Mother | Dúnfhlaith[1] |
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill (948[3] - 2 September 1022), also called Máel Sechnaill Mór, Máel Sechnaill II, anglicized Malachy II, was King of Mide and High King of Ireland. His great victory at the Battle of Tara against Olaf Cuaran in 980 resulted in his and Ireland's control of the Kingdom of Dublin, and was of far greater consequence in Ireland and abroad than the much more famous Battle of Clontarf later fought by Brian Boru.
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Máel Sechnaill belonged to the Clann Cholmáin sept of the Uí Néill. He was the grandson of Donnchad Donn, great-grandson of Flann Sinna and great-great-grandson of the first Máel Sechnaill, Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. The Kings of Tara or High Kings of Ireland had for centuries alternated between septs of the Uí Néill. By Máel Sechnaill's time this alternating succession passed between Clann Cholmáin in the south and the Cenél nEógain in the north, so that he succeeded Domnall ua Néill in 980. This system, which had survived previous challenges by outsiders including the kings of Ulster, Munster and Leinster, and the Viking invasions, was ended by Brian Boru's so-called overthrow of Máel Sechnaill in 1002. In fact this was a bloodless shift resulting from the failure of the Northern Uí Néill, his kinsmen, to support Máel Sechnaill against the aspirations of the extremely militarized overlord of Munster. Brian would have little more success with them himself.
In 980 Olaf Cuarán, King of Dublin, summoned auxiliaries from Norse-ruled Scottish Isles and from Man and attacked Meath, but was defeated by Máel Sechnaill at Tara. Reginald, Olaf's heir, was killed. Máel Sechnaill followed up his victory with a siege of Dublin which surrendered after three days and nights.
In 997, at a royal meeting near Clonfert, Máel Sechnaill met with his long-time rival Brian Boru, King of Munster [4]. The two kings made a truce, by which Brian was granted rule over the southern half of Ireland, while Máel Sechnaill retained the northern half and high kingship.[4] In honour of this arrangement, Máel Sechnaill handed over to Brian the hostages he had taken from Dublin and Leinster;[4] and in 998, Brian handed over to Máel Sechnaill the hostages of Connacht.[4] In the same year, Brian and Máel Sechnaill began co-operating against the Norse of Dublin for the first time.[4]
Late in 999, however, the Leinstermen, historically hostile to domination by either the Uí Néill overkings or the King of Munster, allied themselves with the Norse of Dublin and revolted against Brian.[4]
The Annals of the Four Masters records that Brian and Máel Sechnaill united their forces,[5] and according to the Annals of Ulster, they met the Leinster-Dublin army at Glenmama on Thursday, 30 December, 999.[6] Glenmama, near Dunlavin in County Wicklow, was the ancient stronghold of the Kings of Leinster.[7] The Munster-Meath army defeated the Leinster-Dublin army. Ó Corráin refers to it as a "crushing defeat" of Leinster and Dublin,[4] while The dictionary of English history says the battle effectively "quelled" the "desperate revolt" of Leinster and Dublin.[8] Most importantly, the defeat left the road to Dublin "free and unimpeded for the victorious legions of Brian and Maelsechlainn".[9]
Because of the death of Brian Boru, his son, and many other clan leaders, at Clontarf, he succeeded in regaining the titular High Kingship, with the aid of his northern kinsman Flaithbertach Ua Néill, but High Kingship, albeit with opposition, did not reappear until Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó of Leinster rose to power. Clann Cholmáin provided no further High Kings, but the northern Uí Néill of the Cenél nEógain provided two: Domnall Ua Lochlainn and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn.
Máel Sechnaill had two known wives:
His senior descedant, as of the mid-20th century, was Cornelius Frederic McLoughlin, Chief of the Name, born 11 July 1897.
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Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Muirchertach mac Mael Sechnaill |
King of Mide c. 975 – 1022 |
Succeeded by Mael Sechnaill Got mac Mael Sechnaill |
| Preceded by Domnall ua Néill |
High King of Ireland 980–1002 |
Succeeded by Brian Boru |
| Preceded by Brian Boru |
High King of Ireland 1014–1022 |
Succeeded by Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó |
Abingdon and New York. pp. 310–312.