Cellach mac Máele Coba (died 658) 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 and is said to have been
High King of Ireland.
Cellach was the son of
Máel Coba mac Áedo (died 615) and belonged to the
Cenél Conaill
Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history
* Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) i ...
branch of the northern
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 t ...
. According to the
Irish annals derived from the ''
Chronicle of Ireland'', he may have been High King, jointly with his brother
Conall Cóel
Conall mac Máele Coba, called Conall Cóel, (died 654) was an Irish king and is said to have been High King of Ireland.
Biography
Conall was the son of Máel Coba mac Áedo and belonged to the Cenél Conaill branch of the northern Uí Néill. A ...
, following the death of his uncle
Domnall mac Áedo in 642. The ''
Annals of Ulster'' for 643 say:
Here there is doubt as to who reigned after Domnall. Some historiographers say that four kings, namely Cellach and Conall Cóel and the two sons of Áed Sláine
Áed mac Diarmato (died 604), called Áed Sláine (Áed of Slane), was the son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Legendary stories exist of Áed's birth. Saint Columba is said to have prophesied his death. His descendants, the Síl nÁedo Sláine—t ...
, namely Diarmait and Blathmac
Saint Blathmac ( la, Blathmacus, Florentius) was a distinguished Irish monk, born in Ireland about 750 AD. He is known as "Blathmac, son of Flann", to distinguish him from the poet and monk Blathmac mac Con Brettan.
He was killed and became a ...
, ruled in shared reigns.
All four putative successors to Domnall had been his allies at the great
Battle of Mag Rath in 637, where
Congal Cáech was defeated and the authority of the Uí Néill re-established, and it is not implausible that all four ruled together. He ruled from 643-654. The king lists have Cellach and Conall reigning before Diarmait and Blathmac. Both Cellach and Conall are omitted from the earliest king list—a late 7th century poem called ''Baile Chuinn''.
In 650, they successfully ended a challenge to their authority in the north by defeating and killing their cousin Óengus mac Domnaill at the Battle of Dún Cremthainn. Conall Cóel was killed by Diarmait in 654 while Cellach died in 658, perhaps at
Bru na Bóinne. It is possible Cellach had been captured by Diarmait in 654 and died a prisoner.
[Mac Niocaill, pg.98]
His daughter Cacht ingen Cellaig married
Máel Dúin mac Máele Fithrich (died 681), King of Ailech.
Notes
References
* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
a
University College Cork* ''Annals of Tigernach'' a
a
University College Cork*
Francis John Byrne, Byrne, Francis John, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings.'' Batsford, London, 1973.
* Charles-Edwards, T.M., ''Early Christian Ireland.'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.
* Mac Niocaill, Gearoid (1972), ''Ireland before the Vikings'', Dublin: Gill and Macmillan
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cellach mac Maele Coba
High Kings of Ireland
658 deaths
7th-century Irish monarchs
Year of birth unknown