Fínsnechta Fledach mac Dúnchada (died 695) was

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...

. Fínsnechta belonged to the southern

Síl nÁedo Sláine Síl nÁedo Sláine () are the descendants of Áed Sláine (Áed mac Diarmato), son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall ...

sept of the

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 the ...

and was

King of Brega The Kings of Brega were rulers of Brega, a petty kingdom north of Dublin in medieval Ireland. Overview Brega took its name from ' ('), meaning "fine plain", in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of th ...

, in modern

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, Ireland. He was a grandson 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 ...

. His father Dúnchad had died in 659. His byname "Fledach" meant "the bountiful" or "the festive".

High King

He became King of Brega and High King in 675, after killing his predecessor, and first cousin,

Cenn Fáelad Cenn Fáelad mac Blathmaic (died 675) followed his father Blathmac mac Áedo Sláine (d. 665) and his brother Sechnassach (d. 671) as High King of Ireland and king of Brega. He belonged to the Síl nÁedo Sláine kindred of the southern Uí Néil ...

in battle at Aircheltra, a place which is not identified. The ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' relate how Finsnechta won support by his generosity. Among those he won over were the king of Fir Rois and Saint

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of Co ...

. According to this annal, he had been granted a stewardship by Cenn Fáelad, but was unsatisfied with this and, encouraged by his friend of Fir Rois, challenged Cenn Faelad to battle and won the kingship. He appears to have faced resistance from the

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

, and a Battle of Loch Gabor (Lagore) was fought in 677. There was mutual slaughter on both sides but Finsnechta emerged the victor. In 680, Finsnechta had the King of Leinster,

Fiannamail mac Máele Tuile __NOTOC__ Fiannamail mac Máele Tuile (died 680) was a King of Leinster from the Uí Máil branch of the Laigin. He was the great-grandson of Áed Dibchine mac Senaig (died 595), a previous king and grandson of Rónán Crach, possibly the Leinst ...

, assassinated. Finsnechta was involved in the north as well. In 676, he destroyed Ailech, center of

Cenél nEógain 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) is ...

power. He fought

Bécc Bairrche mac Blathmaic Bécc Bairrche mac Blathmaic (died 718) was king of Ulaid from 692 to 707 from the Dál Fiatach clan. He was the son of Blathmac mac Máel Cobha (died 670), a previous king. His byname Bairrche refers to the region of the Mourne Mountains in sou ...

(d. 718), King of Ulster, in 679 at the Battle of Tailtiu. In June 684,

Ecgfrith Ecgfrith ( ang, Ecgfrið) was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings in England, including: * Ecgfrith of Northumbria, died 685 * Ecgfrith of Mercia Ecgfrith was king of Mercia from 29 July to December 796. He was the son of Offa, one of the m ...

, the

King of Northumbria Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by king Æthelfrith around the year 604, and except for occasional ...

, sent an army under

Berht Bert is a hypocoristic form of a number of various Germanic male given names, such as Robert, Albert, Elbert, Herbert, Hilbert, Hubert, Gilbert, Wilbert, Filbert, Norbert, Osbert, Bertram, Berthold, Bertrand, Umberto, Humbert, Cuthbert, Delber ...

to Ireland which laid waste to the plain of Brega, the heart of Fínsnechta's kingdom. The reasons the army was sent are still not fully understood. The hostages taken in the raid were later returned through the offices of Adomnán in 687. According to the saga Bóroma ("The Cattle Tribute"), it is mentioned that Fínsnechta Fledach undertook an expedition against Leinster when the Laigin refused to pay the cattle tribute. The Leinster king

Bran Mut mac Conaill Bran Mut mac Conaill (died 693 in Ireland, 693) was a king of Leinster from the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. He was the grandson of Fáelán mac Colmáin (died 666 in Ireland, 666), a previous king. He ruled from 7th century in Ireland, 6 ...

(died 693) assembled the Leinster forces and sent Saint Moling (d. 697), the abbot of Ferns, to negotiate with Fínsnechta. Mo-Ling tricked Fínsnechta into remitting the tribute. As a result, Saint Adomnan grew angry with the high king and cursed saying that his descendants would have no fame. Fínsnechta did penance to Adomnan and was forgiven for remitting the Boruma.

Temporary Abdication and Death

In 688, Fínsnechta abdicated to become a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, but he left the clerical life and resumed the kingship in 689. This return to power may have been a result of the break-out of a civil war among the Síl nÁedo Sláine when

Niall mac Cernaig Sotal Niall mac Cernaig Sotal (died 701) was a king in southern Brega of the Uí Chernaig sept of Lagore of the Síl nÁedo Sláine. He was the grandson of the high king Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine (died 665).Charles-Edwards, ''Early Christian Ireland'', ...

(died 701) of the Uí Chernaig sept of south Brega defeated

Congalach mac Conaing Cuirre Congalach mac Conaing Cuirre (died 696) was a King of Brega from the Uí Chonaing sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill. He was the son of Conaing Cuirre mac Congaile (died 662), a previous king of Brega. The territory ...

(died 696) of north Brega at the Battle of Imlech Pich in 688. Also,

Áed mac Dlúthaig Áed mac Dlúthaig (died 701) was a King of Fir Cúl in Brega of the Síl nDlúthaig sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine of Brega. He was the grandson of Ailill Cruitire mac Áedo Sláine (died 634), a king of Brega. Biography In his time the Síl n ...

(died 701) of the Síl nDlúthaig sept killed

Diarmait Dian Diarmait Dian mac Airmetaig, also Diarmait Guthbinn, (died 689) was King of Uisnech in Mide of the Clann Cholmáin. He was the grandson of Conall Guthbinn mac Suibni (died 635), a previous king. His father Airmetach Cáech was slain at the Battle o ...

mac Airmetaig Cáech, the King of

Uisnech , alternate_name = Ushnagh (anglicisation) , image = Hill of Uisneach.jpg , alt = , caption = Information sign , map = , map_caption = , map_type = island of Ireland , map_alt = A map of Ireland , map_size = , location = ...

, of the

Clann Cholmáin Clann Cholmáin is the dynasty descended from Colmán Már mac Diarmato, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide (Meath) — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his s ...

, in 689. He was killed, along with his son Bresal, by his kinsmen Áed mac Dlúthaig and Congalach mac Conaing Cuirre at Grellaigh Dollaith. According to the ''Annals of Tigernach'', this occurred in battle, but the ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'' state that Finsnechta was murdered in a tent by Congalach.''Annals of Tigernach'' AT 695.1; '' Fragmentary Annals'', FA 124 Congalach succeeded Fínsnechta as King of Brega, and

Loingsech mac Óengusso Loingsech mac Óengusso (died 703) was an Irish king who was High King of Ireland. Loingsech was a member of the northern Cenél Conaill branch of the Uí Néill. Although his father Óengus (died 650) had not been High King, his grandfather Do ...

, of the northern

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) is ...

branch of the Uí Néill, was the next High King. Fínsnechta's descendants, the Clan Fínsnechtai, played no important role after him. Fínsnechta was survived by a son named Ailill who was killed in 718. The earliest surviving list of High Kings of Ireland, that in the ''

Baile Chuind Chétchathaig Baile ("dance" in Spanish) may refer to: * Baile (Spanish play), a Spanish dramatic form * Baile funk, a type of dance music from Rio de Janeiro * Baile, the Irish Gaelic word for a town, usually anglicized as "bally" or "balla" * Baile, the Sc ...

'' was apparently compiled in Fínsnechta's reign.

Notes

References

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

a
University College Cork
* Byrne, Francis John, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings.'' Batsford, London, 1973. * Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), ''Early Christian Ireland'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, * Wiley, Dan, ''Cycles of the Kings''
Bóroma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finsnechta Fledach High Kings of Ireland Kings of Brega 695 deaths People from County Meath 7th-century Irish monarchs Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 7th-century births 7th-century deaths

High King

Temporary Abdication and Death

See also

Notes

References