Maine mac Cearbhall, great grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, died

531 __NOTOC__ Year 531 (Roman numerals, DXXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year after the Consulship of Lampadius and Rufius Gennadius Probus ...

or 538. The brother of

Diarmait mac Cerbaill Diarmait mac Cerbaill (died ) was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ''ban-feis'' or marriage to goddess of the land. While many later storie ...

, future High King of Ireland. Maine's great grandfather was Niall of the Nine Hostages, making Maine an Ui Neill. Maine's descendants according to the Book of Ballymote were called Cenel Maine.

Career

Prof. Byrnes writes "In 538 Diarmait mac Cerbaill’s brother Maine (the coincidence of his name is quite fortuitous) was defeated and slain at the battle of Claenloch near Gort in south Galway. According to the Annals of Tigernach, a Clonmacnoise compilation, he was slain by the king of the Ui Fiachrach Aidne, Goibnenn mac Conaill, while attempting to claim the claim the homage of the Ui Maine Connacht. In the later king-lists Maine mac Cerbaill is called king of Uisnech. In the minds of compilers this meant that he was over-king of the Southern Ui Neill, but this is probably an anachronism, especially since Tuathal Maelgarb is supposed to have been high-king of Tara at this date."

Book of Ballymote

Fergus cerrbel .ui. mc. leis .i. Fiach a quo .H. Fhiaich Maine a quo Cenel Maine & Garban a quo .H. Garban la firu Breagh. Diarmaid (.i. mc. Fergusa Cerbel) .iiii. mc. leis .i. Colman mor, Colman beg, Aedh slane, Maelduin o fuilet Muinter Maelduin i Cluain mc. Nois.

A.D. 531

The

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Flood myt ...

(who list his death ''sub anno'' 531), state:

''Cath Claonlocha h-i c-Cenel Aodha ria n-Goibhneann, taoisioch Ua Fiachrach Aidhne, airm in ro marbhadh Maine, mac Cerbhaill, ag cosnamh geillsine Ua Maine Connacht.'' The battle of Claenloch, in Cinel Aedh, by Goibhneann, chief of Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, where Maine, son of Cearbhall, was killed, in defending the hostages of Ui Maine of Connaught.

Claenloch is now thought to be Coole Lough, a turlough located at

Coole Park Coole Park is a nature reserve of approximately located a few miles west of Gort, County Galway, Ireland. It is managed by the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service, part of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The park is i ...

, County Galway.

References

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

a
University College Cork
of McCarthy's synchronisms at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. * Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, {{DEFAULTSORT:Maine mac Cearbhall People from County Galway People from County Roscommon 6th-century Irish monarchs 530s deaths Year of birth unknown Kings of Uí Maine