Ólchobar mac Flainn (died 796) was a supposed

King of Munster The kings of Munster () ruled the Kingdom of Munster in Ireland from its establishment during the Irish Iron Age until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earli ...

from the

Uí Fidgenti The Uí Fidgenti, Fidgeinti, Fidgheinte, Fidugeinte, Fidgente, or Fidgeinte ( or ;In the pronunciation, the -d- is silent, and the -g- becomes a glide, producing what might be anglicized ''Feeyenti'' or ''Feeyenta''. "descendants of, or of the ...

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, allies and/or distant cousins of the

Eóganachta The Eóganachta (Modern , ) were an Irish dynasty centred on Rock of Cashel, Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of De ...

. He was the first non-Eóganachta to be considered king (for several centuries) in some sources. He belonged to a branch of the Uí Fidgenti known as the Uí Conaill Gabra, ancestors of the later famous septs of O'Connell of Kerry and Ó Coileáin of Carbery. His father Flann mac Erca (died 762) and brother Scandlán mac Flainn (died 786) were kings of the Uí Fidgenti. It is more likely that he has been confused with

Ólchobar mac Duib-Indrecht Ólchobar mac Duib-Indrecht (died 805) was a supposed King of Munster from the Eóganacht Áine branch of the Eóganachta. His last paternal ancestor to hold the throne was Cúán mac Amalgado (died 641), five generations previous. His great-gran ...

(died 805) in some sources. Only the ''Annals of Ulster'' call him King of Munster at his death obit in 796. The consideration that a non-Eóganachta could have held the throne is a symptom of the decline of the inner circle of the Eóganachta in the later 8th century after the death of

Cathal mac Finguine Cathal mac Finguine (died 742) was an Irish King of Munster or Cashel, and effectively High King of Ireland as well. He belonged to the Eóganacht Glendamnach sept of the dominant Eóganachta kin-group whose members dominated Munster from the 7t ...

(died 742). The ''Annals of Innisfallen'' do not call him King of Munster at his death obit but do refer to his holding the lay-abbacy of Inis Cathaig or

Scattery Island Inis Cathaigh, Scattery Island or Inniscattery Island () is an island in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland, off the coast of Kilrush, County Clare. The island is home to a lighthouse, a ruined monastery associated with Saints Senan and Canir, an I ...

.''Annals of Innisfallen'', AI 797.2 He was succeeded as King of Uí Fidgenti by his brother Murchad (died 807). The Uí Fidgenti had their own large capital at Dún Eochair, established several centuries before the rise of the Eóganachta by the

Dáirine The Dáirine (Dárine, Dáirfine, Dáirfhine, Dárfine, Dárinne, Dairinne), later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde and associated, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They ...

, once the great power of Munster. An account is given by

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating (; – ) was an Irish historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became a Catholic priest and a poet. Biography It was generally believed unt ...

. The Uí Fidgenti have been accused of being Dáirine themselves or at least a mixture of Dáirine and Eóganachta, and so if true then it would have been highly unusual for a member to occupy the still new capital of

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

. Theoretically only the descendants of

Conall Corc Corc mac Luigthig (340-379),Genealogy of the House of Mac-Carthy formerly Sovereign of the Two Momonies or Southern Ireland, P. Louis Lainé, pg. 26, https://celt.ucc.ie/published/F830000-001.html also called Conall Corc, Corc of Cashel, and Corc ...

could enjoy the Cashel kingship, and whether cousins of the Eóganachta or not the Uí Fidgenti, and the related Uí Liatháin, were certainly not his descendants. If the most ancient genealogies are correct, e.g. Rawlinson B 502, they descended from an uncle of Conall Corc known as

Dáire Cerbba Dáire Cerbba (or Cerba, Cearba, Cearb; meaning "Silver Dáire" or "Dáire the Sharp/Cutting") was a 4th-century Irish dynast who was evidently a king of late prehistoric central northern Munster, called Medón Mairtíne at the time. A frequen ...

. Thus it is very unlikely that Ólchobar mac Flainn would have been able to rule at least from Cashel with much authority.

Notes

References

* ''Annals of Ulster'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
a
University College Cork
* ''Annals of Innisfallen'' a

a
University College Cork
* Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press,

External links

a
University College Cork
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olchobar mac Flainn Kings of Munster 796 deaths 8th-century Irish monarchs Year of birth unknown