Máel Bressail mac Ailello (died 825) was a king of
Ulaid
Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and in ...
, which is now Ulster, Ireland. He belonged to a branch of the
Dal nAraide
In Indian cuisine, ''dal'' (also spelled ''daal'' or ''dhal''; pronunciation: , Hindi: दाल, Urdu: ) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pu ...
known as the
Uí Echach Cobo
Iveagh ( ; ) is the name of several historical territorial divisions in what is now County Down, Northern Ireland. Originally it was a Gaelic Irish territory, ruled by the ''Uí Echach Cobo'' and part of the overkingdom of Ulaid. From the 12th c ...
in the west part of county Down. He ruled as King of Ulaid from 819-825.
He was the first member of the Uí Echach Cobo to hold the throne of all Ulaid since
Fergus mac Áedáin (died 692) who was his great-great grandfather. Both his father Ailill mac Feidlimid (died 761) and brother Eochu mac Ailillo (died 801) had been Kings of Coba. His exact year of accession to the throne of Coba is unknown though his brother is the last king mentioned in the ''Annals of Ulster'' prior to him. Both his father and brother had been slain in struggles with the
Dal Fiatach over kings of Ulaid.
In 819 Máel Bressail was able to acquire the throne of Ulaid after internal squabbling among the Dal Fiatach. The kinglists such as those in the ''Book of Leinster'' list him as king but only give him a reign of two years. The ''Annals of Ulster'' as well do not give him the title King of Ulaid at his death notice. However the death notice of Dal nAraide kings of Ulaid is often biased in the annals in favor of the Dal Fiatach as the "true" Ulaid.
Viking raids were common on Ulster in this period and the monastery of Bangor was attacked twice in 823 and 824.
[AU 823.8, 824.2; Byrne, ''A New History of Ireland'', pg.610]
His son Cernach mac Máele Bressail (died 853) was also a King of Coba.
Notes
References
* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
a
University College Cork* Byrne, Francis John (2001), ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Dublin: Four Courts Press,
* Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (2005), ''A New History of Ireland'', Volume One, Oxford: Oxford University Press
External links
a
University College Cork
Kings of Ulster
825 deaths
9th-century Irish monarchs
Year of birth unknown
{{Ireland-royal-stub