Dubsúilech Ó Maolconaire was a member of the

Ó Maolconaire Ó Maolchonaire, more properly Ó Maol Chonaire, sometimes Ó Mhaoilchonaire, Ó Maolconaire, etc., was the surname of a family of professional poets and historians in medieval Ireland. Traditionally it would have been spelled without the 'h', but ...

family of

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

, who served as historians and poets to the

Síol Muireadaigh The Síol Muireadaigh or Síol Muireadhaigh (Anglicized as Sil Murray or Silmurray), was a leading sept of the Connachta group of Gaelic dynasties in medieval Ireland. The name Síol Muireadaigh was also used to refer to the territory occupied by ...

and their rulers, the

Ó Conchubhair The O'Conor family (Middle Irish: ''Ó Conchubhair''; Modern ga, Ó Conchúir) are an Irish noble house and were one of the most influential and distinguished royal houses in Ireland. The O'Conor family held the throne of the Kingdom of Co ...

Kings of Connacht The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being name ...

. He appears to have been chief ''

ollamh An or ollamh (; anglicised as ollave or ollav), plural ollomain, in early Irish literature, is a member of the highest rank of filí. The term is used to refer to the highest member of any group; thus an ''ollam brithem'' would be the highes ...

'' of

, and thus presumably that of the Síol Muireadaigh. However, the entry in the ''

Annals of Connacht The ''Annals of Connacht'' (), covering the years 1224 to 1544, are drawn from a manuscript compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries by at least three scribes, all believed to be members of the Clan Ó Duibhgeannáin. The early sections, commenci ...

'' is somewhat ambiguous: :"It was in this year that the reign of the ollavs Dubshuilech and Dunlang O Mailchonaire came to an end, and Tanaide Mor son of Duinnin son of Nede son of Conaing Buide O Mailchonaire took his seat in the Ollav's Chair of the province of Connacht. In the words f the poet 'Tanaide the teacher, a learned ollav, son of Duinnin, spent forty famous years on the floor of Liss Lerthaile.'"''Annals of Connacht'', 1270.18. The possibility therefore exists that Dubsúilech and Dunlang held the post jointly during their lives. Their successor was a son of a previous Ollamh, Dúinnín Ó Maolconaire.

References

;General * *''The Encyclopaedia of Ireland'' 2003; . * ''Mac Dermot of Moylurg: The Story of a Connacht Family'' Dermot Mac Dermot, 1996. *''A New History of Ireland VIII: A Chronology of Irish History to 1976 - A Companion to Irish History Part I'' edited by T.W. Moody, F.X. Martin and F.J. Byrne, 1982. *''The Celebrated Antiquary'' Nollaig O Muralie, Maynooth, 1996. *''Irish Leaders and Learning Through the Ages'' Fr. Paul Walsh, 2004. (ed. Nollaig O Muralie). ;Specific

External links

List of Published Texts at CELT
—

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

's ''Corpus of Electronic Texts'' 13th-century deaths 1270 deaths 13th-century Irish historians 13th-century Irish poets People from County Roscommon Year of birth unknown Irish male poets Irish-language writers {{Ireland-poet-stub