Írgalach mac Conaing Cuirre (died 702), also called Írgalach ua Conaing, was a

King of Brega The Kings of Brega were rulers of Brega, a petty kingdom north of Dublin in medieval Ireland. Overview Brega took its name from ' ('), meaning "fine plain", in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of the ...

from the Uí Chonaing sept of Cnogba ( Knowth) of the

Síl nÁedo Sláine Síl nÁedo Sláine () are the descendants of Áed Sláine (Áed mac Diarmato), son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Co ...

branch of the southern Ui Neill. He was the son of Conaing Cuirre mac Congaile (died 662) and brother of Congalach mac Conaing Cuirre (died 696), previous kings of Brega. He ruled from 696 to 702. Írgalach is listed as one of the guarantors of the

Cáin Adomnáin The ''Cáin Adomnáin'' (Law of Adomnán), also known as the ''Lex Innocentium'' (Law of Innocents), was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, Dál Riatan and Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr in 697. It is named after its initiator ...

("Law of the Innocents") of Saint

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of ...

arranged at the

Synod of Birr The Synod of Birr, held at Birr in modern County Offaly, Ireland in 697 was a meeting of churchmen and secular notables. Best remembered as the occasion on which the Cáin Adomnáin—the Law of Innocents—was guaranteed, the survival o ...

in 697 where he is called King of Ciannachta. Írgalach's reign began an intense rivalry between the Uí Chonaing and Uí Chernaig sept of Lagore in south Brega of the Síl nÁedo Sláine. His brother Congalach had been defeated by Niall mac Cernaig Sotal (died 701) of this sept at the Battle of Imlech Pich in 688. In 701, Irgalach killed Niall, who was under Adomnán's protection, at Drumain Ua Casan. The ''

Fragmentary Annals of Ireland The ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' or ''Three Fragments'' are a Middle Irish combination of chronicles from various Irish annals and narrative history. They were compiled in the kingdom of Osraige, probably in the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gil ...

'' give the story of the curse the saint laid upon Irgalach for this act:

"Cursed son," said he, "hardest and worst man of God's making, know that shortly you will be separated from your sovereignty, and you will go to Hell."

According to the account in the ''Fragmentary Annals'' Adomnán also cursed Írgalach's descendants. His wife Muirenn (died 748), daughter of

Cellach Cualann Cellach Cualann mac Gerthidi (died 715) was the last Uí Máil king of Leinster. Cellach's byname is derived from the land of ''Cualu'' which lay around Glendalough. The name Uí Máil may mean "grandsons of the princes". This, along with th ...

(died 715), the

Uí Máil Uí Máil were an Irish dynasty of Leinster. They were descended from Maine Mál, the brother of the legendary high king Cathair Mór. The Uí Máil were a dominant dynasty in Leinster competing for the kingship in the 7th century before being event ...

king of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

was pregnant and begged Adomnán to spare her unborn child. This he did, in part, but her child, Cináed mac Írgalaig, later High King of Ireland, was born half-blind, from which he derived his byname Cináed Cáech. . The ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín ...

'' record that Írgalach met his death the next year in 702 when invading Britons slew him on the coast opposite Inis Mac Nesáin ( Ireland's Eye), and the ''Fragmentary Annals'' link this with Adomnán's curse. Joan Radner, translator of the ''Fragmentary Annals'', notes that while the deaths of Niall and Írgalach, and Cináed's blindness, are all attested by the

Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...

, the remainder of the account is of unknown reliability and "the legend fits into the cracks between annal entries".Radner, "Writing history", p. 318.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irgalach Mac Conaing Kings of Brega 7th-century births 702 deaths 7th-century Irish monarchs 8th-century Irish monarchs