Lorcán mac Cellaig (flourished 848) was a King of Leinster of the Uí Muiredaig sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Maistiu (

Mullaghmast Mullaghmast ( ga, Mullach Maistín), (modern spelling in English is Mullamast) is a hill in the south of County Kildare, Leinster, near the village of Ballitore and near the borders with Wicklow, Laois and Carlow. It was an important site in pre ...

) in the south of modern

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. He was the son of Cellach mac Brain (died 834), a previous king. The succession of kings in Leinster is difficult to follow in his time. The king lists in the '' Book of Leinster'' have Lorcán succeed Ruarc mac Brain (died 862) of the Uí Dúnchada sept and followed by

Túathal mac Máele-Brigte Tuathal mac Máele-Brigte (died 854) was a King of Leinster of the Uí Muiredaig sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Maistiu (Mullaghmast) in South Kildare. He was possibly the son of Muiredach mac B ...

(died 854). According to these lists Ruarc ruled for 9 years (c.838-847) and Túathal for 3 (c.851-854). Lorcán's reign then corresponds to c.847-851.

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. Af ...

suggests that the root of this apparent confusion lay in the fact that the Uí Dúnlainge kings exercised little real authority due to the aggressions of their western neighbour Cerball mac Dúnlainge (died 888),

King of Osraige The kings of Osraige (alternately spelled ''Osraighe'' and Anglicised as ''Ossory'') reigned over the medieval Irish kingdom of Osraige from the first or second century AD until the late twelfth century. Osraige was a semi-provincial kingdom in s ...

. Cerball, while unable to install himself as king of Leinster, was able to prevent any rival king exercising real power there. In 848 Lorcán led the Laigin in alliance with

Ólchobar mac Cináeda Ólchobar mac Cináeda (died 851) was King of Munster from 847 until his death. He may be the "king of the Irish" who sent an embassy to Frankish Emperor Charles the Bald announcing a series of victories over Vikings in Ireland in 848. Origins � ...

(died 851) in a victory over the Vikings in the Battle of Sciath Nechtain near modern Castledermot, County Kildare, in which fell the jarl

Tomrair Tomrair (died 848) was a ninth-century Viking active in Ireland. He is one of the first Vikings recorded by Irish sources. Tomrair is reported to have been killed at the Battle of Sciath Nechtain, a conflict in which twelve hundred Vikings were ...

.''Annals of Ulster'', AU 848.5 Lorcán's father Cellach had also been aligned with Munster during the reign 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).

Notes

References

* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
a
University College Cork
* ''Book of Leinster'',''Rig Laigin'' a

a
University College Cork
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press,

External links

a
University College Cork
Kings of Leinster Kings of Uí Dúnlainge 9th-century Irish monarchs People from County Kildare {{Ireland-royal-stub