Rónán mac Colmáin was a

King of Leinster The kings of Leinster ( ga, Rí Laighín), ruled from the establishment of Leinster during the Irish Iron Age, until the 17th century Early Modern Ireland. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasio ...

following

Brandub mac Echach Brandub mac Echach (died 605) was an Irish king of the Uí Cheinnselaig of Leinster. His father, Echu mac Muiredaig had been a king of the Ui Cheinnselaig. They belonged to a branch known as the Uí Felmeda descended from Fedelmid, son of Énnae ...

(died

605 Year 605 ( DCV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 605 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the pr ...

). There were two men named Rónán mac Colmáin active in Leinster in the early seventh century and confusion exists as to which one was king. Some later sources confuse the two Rónáns, but historian

Francis John Byrne Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian. Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. ...

notes that the earliest sources do not.

Uí Cheinnselaig king

The first was Rónán mac Colmáin (died

624 __NOTOC__ Year 624 ( DCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 624 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

) He was King of the Uí Cheinnselaig and was the son of Colmán mac Cormaicc of the Sil Chormaic sept. The historian Francis John Byrne believes he was the one who was King of Leinster. His death is mentioned in both the ''

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-cen ...

'' and 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 ...

''. The later Leinster king Crundmáel Erbuilc mac Rónáin (died 656) was his son. Other sons were Blathmac (died

658 __NOTOC__ Year 658 ( DCLVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 658 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

) and Cummascach, a King of Uí Cheinnselaig. He was succeeded as king of Uí Cheinnselaig by Crundmáel Bolg Luatha mac Áedo (died

628 __NOTOC__ Year 628 ( DCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 628 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

Uí Dúnlainge king

The second Rónán mac Colmáin (died

613 __NOTOC__ Year 613 ( DCXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 613 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

) belonged to the

Uí Dúnlainge The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons (or descendants) of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ancest ...

and was the son of Colmán Már mac Coirpri. The ''Annals of Tigernach'' includes his death obit with the title King of Laigin. These annals interpolated dates for some Leinster kings in this period from the king lists.

Fingal Rónáin saga

Rónán mac Colmáin of the Uí Dúnlainge appears in the Fingal Rónáin (The Kinslaying of Rónán), also known as Aided Máele Fothartaig meic Rónáin (The Killing of Máel Fothartaig mac Rónáin), a

Middle Irish Middle Irish, sometimes called Middle Gaelic ( ga, An Mheán-Ghaeilge, gd, Meadhan-Ghàidhlig), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old Eng ...

-language verse tale of the 10th century. The story survives in the ''

Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...

''. The protagonist of the tale is named Rónán mac Áedo, but genealogies have Rónán mac Colmáin as the father and killer of Máel Fothartaig. Professor Dan Wiley notes: "After Rónán's death, his line of the family became extinct. Subsequent Uí Dúnlainge kings of Leinster all trace descent from his brother Fáelán mac Colmáin."Dan M. Wiley
"Fingal Rónáin"
, ''The Cycles of the Kings''. According to the saga, Rónán's first wife was Eithne ingen Chummascaig by whom he had a son named Máelfothartaig. On Eithne's death he remarried to the daughter of Eochaid Iarlaithe (d. 666) of Dál nAraide. The new queen was very young and attempted to seduce her stepson. So Maelfothartaig went into voluntary exile in Scotland to avoid this. Eventually he returned home but the queen continued her advances which were refused and she tricked the king into having his son murdered.

Notes

References

* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
a
University College Cork
* ''Annals of Tigernach'' a

a
University College Cork
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, * ''Book of Leinster'',''Rig Laigin'' a

a
University College Cork
* MacKillop, James, ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998.

External links