Murchadh mac Maenach (died 896) was
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
of
Maigh Seóla.
Biography
Murchadh is one of the earliest-attested kings of his region. He is noteworthy as the person who gave his name to the
Muintir Murchada, a dynasty whose leading family later took the surname
Ó Flaithbheartaigh
O'Flaherty ( , ; ; ) is an Irish people, Irish Gaels, Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Galway. The clan name originated in the 10th century as a derivative of its founder Flaithbheartach mac Eimhin. They descend in ...
(O'Flaherty). At this point in time, his people lived east of
Lough Corrib, their territory centered on Lough Cime (
Lough Hackett),
Tuam
Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...
,
County Galway
County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
. They would be expelled by the O'Connors in the 1050s.
The genealogies list two sons, Urchadh and Urumhain, with Urchadh listed as having descendants. A Cleirchin mac Murchadh of Uà Briúin Seóla is listed in the ''
Annals of the Four Masters
The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...
'' under 908, though he does not appear in any other source. Urchadh later became the grandfather of
Brian Boru
Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uà Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...
.
According to the genealogies, Murchard's great-great-great-great-grandson was
Flaithbheartach mac Eimhin, whose grandson,
Muredach Mór Ua Flaithbheartaigh, apparently became the first to bear the surname. Muredach Mór had three sons—Ruaidri of Lough Cime, Donough Aluinn and Aedh. From Ruaidri are the senior lines of the clan (those of
Conmaicne Mara (later known as Connemara),
Moycullen and Sliocht Diarmaid).
See also
*
Ó Flaithbertaigh
References
* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Textsa
University College Cork* ''Annals of Tigernach'' a
a
University College Cork
of McCarthy's synchronisms at Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
.
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press,
* Lysaght, Eamonn (1978), The Surnames of Ireland. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murchadh mac Maenach
Nobility from County Galway
890s deaths
9th-century Irish monarchs
Year of birth unknown