Cináed Mac Conaing

Cináed mac Conaing (died 851) was

King of Knowth The Kings of Brega were rulers of Brega, a petty kingdom north of Dublin in medieval Ireland. Overview Brega took its name from ' ('), meaning "fine plain", in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of the ...

in the medieval

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 ...

province of

Mide Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all of ...

, succeeding his father

Conaing mac Flainn Conaing mac Flainn (died 849) was a King of Brega from the Uí Chonaing sept of Cnogba (Knowth) of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Ui Neill. He was the son of Flann mac Congalaig (died 812), a previous king. He ruled from 839 to 84 ...

in 849. Cináed's family belonged to the Knowth, or Uí Chonaing, branch of 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 Conall ...

, part of the southern branch of the dominant

Uí Néill The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into the ...

kin group. The leadership of the southern branch rested with the rival

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 s ...

whose chief,

Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid Máel Sechnaill mac Máel Ruanaida (Modern Irish: ''Maolsheachlann Mac Maolruanaidh''), also known as Máel Sechnaill I, anglicised as Malachy MacMulrooney (died 27 November 862) was High King of Ireland. The Annals of Ulster use the Old Irish ...

, was

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...

. Even within the Síl nÁedo Sláine, Cináed and his kin had a rival in the shape of

Tigernach mac Fócartai Tigernach mac Fócartai (died 865), also called Tigernach of Lagore, was King of Lagore. Background Tigernach belonged to the Uí Chernaig branch of the once-powerful Síl nÁedo Sláine kindred, part of the southern Uí Néill. His great-great-g ...

, king of

Lagore Loch Gabhair (Lagore), meaning "Lake of the Goats", is an area in the barony of Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland. It is located between the villages of Ratoath and Dunshaughlin and is the namesake of the townlands of Lagore Big (Loch Gabhar Mór) an ...

. In 850 Cináed allied himself with the

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 se ...

armies in the Irish midlands. He and his allies, say 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, ...

'', "plundered

he southern He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

Uí Néill from the Shannon to the sea" burning churches and settlements. This is portrayed as a rebellion against Máel Sechnaill, but the target may well have been Cináed's local rival Tigernach whose

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

Loch Gabhair Loch Gabhair (Lagore), meaning "Lake of the Goats", is an area in the barony of Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland. It is located between the villages of Ratoath and Dunshaughlin and is the namesake of the townlands of Lagore Big (Loch Gabhar Mór) an ...

was burned, along with the nearby church at Trevet. The following year, 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 ...

record, Cináed was treacherously executed by being drowned by Máel Sechnaill and Tigernach, presumably at a conference as the annals add that this was "in spite of the guarantees of the nobles of Ireland, and the successor of

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

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References