Conchobar mac Donnchada (or Conchobar mac Donnchado) was High-King of Ireland with opposition (''

rí Rí, or commonly ríg (genitive), is an ancient Gaelic word meaning 'king'. It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings, and those of similar rank. While the Modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish ...

Érenn co fressabra'') between

819 __NOTOC__ Year 819 ( DCCCXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Louis I marries Judith of Bavaria in Aachen.Rogers, B ...

and

833 __NOTOC__ Year 833 ( DCCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine-Arab War: Emperor Theophilos signs an armistice for p ...

. Conchobar was the son of

Donnchad Midi Donnchad mac Domnaill (733 – 6 February 797), called Donnchad Midi, was High King of Ireland. His father, Domnall Midi, had been the first Uí Néill High King from the south-central Clann Cholmáin based in modern County Westmeath and weste ...

, high-king of Ireland ( 733–

797 __NOTOC__ Year 797 (Roman numerals, DCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 797 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Dom ...

); his mother was Fuirseach, a noblewoman of the

Dál nAraidi Dál nAraidi (; "Araide's part") or Dál Araide, sometimes Latinised as Dalaradia or Anglicised as Dalaray,Boyd, Hugh AlexanderIrish Dalriada ''The Glynns: Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society''. Volume 76 (1978). was a Cruthin ki ...

. Conchobar married Land, daughter of the former High-King

Áed Oirdnide Áed mac Néill (; died 819), commonly called Áed Oirdnide ("the anointed"), was King of Ailech. A member of the Cenél nEógain dynasty of the northern Uí Néill, he was the son of Niall Frossach. Like his father, Áed was reckoned High King ...

. They had a son named Atrí, who became a cleric at

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

, as well as three other sons, Cathal, Eochócan, and Cináed. Conchobar appears as a historical figure for the first time when, in the year 802, the high-king

Áed Oirdnide mac Néill Aodh ( , , ; sga, Áed) is an Irish and Scottish Gaelic male given name, originally meaning "fire".The modern word ''aodh'' meaning 'inflammation' or as a phrase with the Irish word for 'itch' (''tochas''), giving ''aodh thochais'', 'burning itc ...

Cenél nÉogain Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history * Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) i ...

, Conchobar's brother-in-law (possibly father-in-law) portioned out the lordship of

Clann Cholmáin Clann Cholmáin is the dynasty descended from Colmán Már mac Diarmato, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide (Meath) — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his ...

between Conchobar and Ailill. Ailill was Conchobar's brother, but in the following year at Rathconnell, Conchobar killed his brother to take the whole lordship for himself. Only five years later Conchobar, allied now with the king of

Connaught Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and De ...

, campaigned for the High-Kingship. He met and defeated his former patron Áed Oirdnide, but it was not until Áed's death in

that Conchobar was recognized as High-King. Even then Conchobar had to deal with the opposition of Áed's cousin, Murchad mac Máele Dúin. The latter was able to form an alliance with one of Conchobar's own subject kindreds, 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 ...

. Conchobar soon became aware of the treachery, and in

822 __NOTOC__ Year 822 ( DCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine general and usurper Thomas the Slav continues his revolt ...

he took revenge on this kindred in "an especially horrific slaughter". In

823 __NOTOC__ Year 823 ( DCCCXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Michael II defeats the rebel forces under Thomas the Sl ...

Conchobar formed an alliance with

Feidlimid mac Crimthainn Fedelmid mac Crimthainn was the King of Munster between 820 and 846. He was numbered as a member of the Céli Dé, an abbot of Cork Abbey and Clonfert Abbey, and possibly a bishop. After his death, he was later considered a saint in some martyr ...

King of Munster The kings of Munster ( ga, Rí Mumhan), ruled from the establishment of Munster during the Irish Iron Age, until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earliest ...

(

820 __NOTOC__ Year 820 (Roman numerals, DCCCXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate *Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun appointed Isa ibn Yazid al-Juludi as ...

–

847 __NOTOC__ Year 847 ( DCCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Danish Vikings land in the Breton March (western part of Gaul). Duke Nominoe o ...

). However, Conchobar's attempts to subordinate Munster and its king proved intolerable to Feidlimid, and from

827 __FORCETOC__ Year 827 ( DCCCXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 14 – Euphemius, exiled Byzantine admiral, asks for ...

onwards Feidlimid mac Crimthainn was a source of opposition. Conchobar died in unknown circumstances in 833, to which renewed

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...

raids formed the backdrop. He is buried at

Clonard Abbey Clonard Abbey (Irish, ''Cluain Eraird'', or ''Cluain Iraird'', "Erard's Meadow") was an early medieval monastery situated on the River Boyne in Clonard, County Meath, Ireland. Early history The monastery was founded in about 520 by Saint F ...

.Moody, Martin, and Byrne, (eds.), ''Maps, Genealogies, Lists'', p. 193, n. 25.

Notes

References

* Hudson, Benjamin T., "Conchobar mac Donnchada (d. 833)", in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edn, Oxford University Press, Oct 200
, accessed 12 Feb 2007
* Moody, T. W., Martin, F. X., and Byrne, F. J., (eds.), ''Maps, Genealogies, Lists: A Companion to Irish History, Part II'', (''A New History of Ireland'', vol IX, Oxford, 1984) {{DEFAULTSORT:Conchobar mac Donnchada 833 deaths High Kings of Ireland Kings of Mide People from County Westmeath 9th-century Irish monarchs Year of birth unknown