Artrí mac Cathail (died 821) was a
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 ...
from the Glendamnach branch of the
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta () were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, an ...
. He was the son of
Cathal mac Finguine
Cathal mac Finguine (died 742) was an Irish King of Munster or Cashel, and effectively High King of Ireland as well. He belonged to the Eóganacht Glendamnach sept of the dominant Eóganachta kin-group whose members dominated Munster from the ...
(died 742), a previous king. He reigned from 793 to 820.
The kingship of Munster had rotated among the inner circle of Eóganachta during the seventh and most of the eighth centuries. But the Eóganachta experienced a decline after the death of Cathal mac Finguine in 742. The rotation was interrupted by the rule of
Máel Dúin mac Áedo
Máel Dúin mac Áedo (died 786) was a possible King of Munster from the Eóganacht Locha Léin branch of the Eóganachta. He was the son of Áed Bennán mac Conaing (died 733), a king of Iarmuman or West Munster and great great grandson of ...
(died 786) of the
Eóganacht Locha Léin
__NOTOC__
Eóganacht Locha Léin or Uí Cairpre Luachra were a branch of the ruling Eóganachta of Munster. Their territory was in Iarmuman or West Munster. Luachair (Lúachra) is the old name of a large district on the borders of Co Cork, Kerry a ...
branch which ruled in
Iarmumu
Iarmhumhain (older spellings: Iarmuman, Iarmumu or Iarluachair) was a Kingdom in the early Christian period of Ireland in west Munster. Its ruling dynasty was related to the main ruling dynasty of Munster known as the Eóganachta. Its ruling branc ...
(West Munster). The definitive restoration of the rule of the inner circle is considered to be the ordination of Artrí as king in 793. Simultaneously with his ordination, the Law of
Ailbe, patron saint of
Emly
Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
It is situated on the R515 ...
was proclaimed in Munster. In 794, an expedition by the high king
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 ...
(died 797) is recorded to aid the Laigin against a Munster incursion, but Artrí is not directly connected with this.
Artrí may have recognized
Ólchobar mac Duib-Indrecht
Ólchobar mac Duib-Indrecht (died 805) was a supposed King of Munster from the Eóganacht Áine branch of the Eóganachta. His last paternal ancestor to hold the throne was Cúán mac Amalgado (died 641), five generations previous. His great-grand ...
(died 805) of the Áine branch as heir, who is recognized as such in his death obit in the ''Annals of Innisfallen''. An alternative is that Ólchobar succeeded Máel Dúin in 786 and was deposed in 793 by Artrí. Artrí may have had his son
Tnúthgal mac Artrach ordained as King as well who died circa 807.
The accession of
Feidlimid mac Cremthanin
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 mart ...
(died 847) of the Cashel branch is recorded in 820 with the death of Artrí the next year in 821. It is possible that the aged Artrí abdicated the throne.
[Byrne, pg.215] Artrí was the last King of Munster from the Glendamnach line. His great grandson Art Caemh was ancestor of the Ó Caiomh (
O'Keeffe
O'Keeffe ( ga, Ó Caoimh), also O'Keefe, Keef, Keefe, Keeffe, Keifer or Keever is the name of an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork, particularly around Fermoy and Duhallow. The name comes from ''caomh'', m ...
s) of County Cork.
Notes
References
* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Textsa
University College Cork* ''Annals of Innisfallen'' a
a
University College Cork* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press,
* Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), ''Early Christian Ireland'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
External links
a
University College Cork
Kings of Munster
9th-century Irish monarchs
821 deaths
Year of birth unknown
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