Muiredach mac Brain (died 885) was a

King of Leinster The kings of Leinster ( ga, Rí Laighín), ruled from the establishment of Leinster during the Irish Iron Age, until the 17th century Early Modern Ireland. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasion ...

of the Uí Dúnchada sept of the

Uí Dúnlainge The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons (or descendants) of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ances ...

branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Líamhain (

Lyons Hill Lyons Hill or Lyons () is a townland and restored village in County Kildare. At a time when canal passenger boats travelled at Lyons was the nearest overnight stop to Dublin on the Grand Canal. On the hilltop is a trigonometrical point used ...

, on the Dublin-Kildare border). He was the son of Bran mac Fáeláin (died 838) and brother of Ruarc mac Brain (died 862), previous kings. There is much confusion in the king lists during this period for Leinster.

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. ...

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 Cerball mac Dúnlainge (patronymic sometimes spelled ''Dúngaile'', ) (died 888) was king of Ossory in south-east Ireland. The kingdom of Ossory (''Osraige'') occupied roughly the area of modern County Kilkenny and western County Laois and lay b ...

(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. Muiredach himself appears in the annals as leader of Leinster forces and King of Leinster at a time when others were considered to be king. His first appearance in the annals is in the year 870. In that year, the high king

Áed Findliath Áed mac Néill (died 879), called Áed Findliath ("fair-grey Áed"; Modern Irish: ''Aodh Fionnadhliath'') to distinguish him from his paternal grandfather Áed Oirdnide, was king of Ailech and High King of Ireland. He was also called Áed Olac ...

(died 879) invaded Leinster and overran it. Meanwhile, his ally

(died 888) of

Osraige Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home o ...

invaded Leinster from the west. He reached Dún Bolg (Dunboyke, modern County Wicklow) where his camp was attacked by the Laigin who were at first successful, but in a counter-attack they were put to flight. Muiredach is named as leader of the Leinster forces and as king. The resistance was enough to prevent the high king from taking the hostages of Leinster. In 871 the king Ailill mac Dúnlainge was slain by the Vikings of Dublin (the first king to be titled King of Leinster in the ''Annals of Ulster'' since 838). The annals then claim that

Domnall mac Muirecáin Domnall mac Muirecáin (died 884) was a King of Leinster of the Uí Fáeláin sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Naas in the eastern part of the Liffey plain, Airthir Liphi. He was the son of Muirecá ...

(died 884) became king in 880. In the intervening period, Áed Findliath invaded Leinster in an attempt to impose his authority and he plundered the country and burned churches including Cell Ausili (Killashee, near Naas) in 874. Muiredach retaliated and led a force to attack the lands of the southern Ui Neill in 875. He laid waste the country as far as Sliab Monduirn in Brega. Domnall died in 884 and Muiredach became definitely king. He is acknowledged King of Leinster at his death notice in 885 in the annals. Muiredach was also abbot of Kildare where he succeeded his kinsman Cobthach mac Muiredaig in 870. This abbacy had been a virtual monopoly of the Uí Dúnchada sept since 798. Another kinsman, Suibne Ua Fínsnechtai was Bishop of Kildare from 875 to 881.Byrne, ''A New History of Ireland'', Volume I, pg.674 His son Faelán mac Muiredaig (died 942) was also a King of Leinster.

Notes

References

* ''Annals of Ulster'' a

a
University College Cork
* ''Chronicum Scotorum'' a

a
University College Cork
* ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' a

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University College Cork
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Dublin: Four Courts Press, *Ó Corráin, Donnchad (1972), ''Ireland Before the Normans'', Dublin: Gill and Macmillan * Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (2005), ''A New History of Ireland'', Volume One, Oxford: Oxford University Press

External links

a
University College Cork
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Muiredach Mac Kings of Leinster 9th-century Irish monarchs 885 deaths Year of birth unknown