Cathal Cú-cen-máthair mac Cathaíl (died 665), often known as Cú-cen-máthair, was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 around 661 until his death. He was a son of

Cathal mac Áedo Cathal mac Áedo Flaind Chathrach (died 627) was a King of Cashel in Munster from the Glendamnach sept of the Eoganachta. He was the son of Áed Fland Cathrach and grandson of Coirpre Cromm mac Crimthainn (died 577) a previous king of Cashel. H ...

Flaind Chathrach (died c. 628) and belonged to the Glendamnach

sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ( ...

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 ...

dynasty. The name Cú-cen-máthair means the "motherless hound". Cú-cen-máthair succeeded

Máenach mac Fíngin Máenach mac Fíngin (died 661) was a King of Munster from the Eóganacht Chaisil branch of the Eoganachta. He was the son of Fíngen mac Áedo Duib (died 618), a previous king. His mother was Mór Muman (died 636), daughter of Áed Bennán mac ...

of the Eóganacht Chaisil, the Cashel branch of the kindred. A surviving poem attributed to Luccrech moccu Chérai contains a list of his ancestors back to

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

. Cú-cen-máthair died in 665 of a plague which killed many others as recorded in 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 king lists have him followed as King of Munster by

Colgú mac Faílbe Flaind Colgú mac Faílbe Flaind (died 678) was a King of Munster from the Eóganacht Chaisil branch of the Eoganachta. He was the son of Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib (d. 639),Francis J.Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Table 12 a previous king. H ...

of the Eóganacht Chaisil. Cú-cen-máthair left at least two sons,

Finguine mac Cathail Finguine mac Cathail Con-cen-máthair (died 696) was a King of Munster from the Glendamnach branch of the Eoganachta. He was the son of Cathal Cú-cen-máthair mac Cathaíl (d. 665).Francis J.Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Table 13 He succ ...

(died 696) and

Ailill mac Cathail Ailill mac Cathail Con-cen-máthair (died 701) was a King of Munster from the Glendamnach branch of the Eóganachta. He was the son of Cathal Cú-cen-máthair mac Cathail (d. 665) and brother of his predecessor Finguine mac Cathail Con-cen-máthai ...

(died 701), both of whom are listed as Kings of Munster in the annals.

References

* Byrne, Francis John, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings.'' Batsford, London, 1973.

External links

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
a
University College Cork
The Corpus of Electronic Texts includes the ''Annals of Ulster'' and ''the Four Masters'', the ''Chronicon Scotorum'' and the ''Book of Leinster'' as well as Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.

665 deaths Kings of Munster 7th-century Irish monarchs Year of birth unknown {{Ireland-royal-stub