Fogartach Mac'Artain (died 724), sometimes called Fogartach ua Cernaich, was an
Irish king who is reckoned a
High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland ( ) 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 was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...
. He belonged to the Uí Chernaig sept of the
Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties that claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who is believed to have died around c. 405. They are generally divided ...
. He was King of
Brega
Brega , also known as ''Mersa Brega'' or ''Marsa al-Brega'' ( , i.e. "Brega Seaport"), is a complex of several smaller towns, industry installations and education establishments situated in Libya on the Gulf of Sidra, the most southerly point of ...
and was the son of
Niall mac Cernaig Sotal (died 701) and great-grandson of the high king
Diarmait mac Áedo Sláine (died 665).
King of Brega
Fogartach may be identified with the "Focortoch" who signed as a guarantor of the ''
Cáin Adomnáin
The ''Cáin Adomnáin'' (, , "Law of Adomnán"), also known as the ''Lex Innocentium'' (Law of Innocents), was promulgated amongst a gathering of Gaels, Gaelic and Picts, Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr in 697 in Ireland, 697. It is named ...
'' at
Birr in 697.
The earliest report of him in the
Irish annals
A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over ti ...
is his flight from the battlefield at the Battle of Claenath (Clane, Co. Kildare) in 704 following the defeat of a number of southern Uí Néill kings by
Cellach Cualann (died 715),
King of Leinster.
In 714, Fogartach was deposed as
king of Brega and exiled in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
. It has been suggested that it was the High King,
Fergal mac Máele Dúin
Fergal mac Máele Dúin (died 11 December 722) was High King of Ireland. Fergal belonged to the Cenél nEógain sept of the northern Uí Néill. He was the son of Máel Dúin mac Máele Fithrich (died 681), a King of Ailech, and great-grandso ...
(died 722), who deposed him, but it appears more likely that this was a dispute within the fractious Síl nÁedo Sláine, and that Fogartach was removed by his uncle
Conall Grant (died 718), assisted by
Murchad Midi (died 715) of
Clann Cholmáin. Conall killed Murchad the following year and Fogartach returned in 716.
He caused some manner of disturbance in 717 at the Oenach Tailtiu—an annual Uí Néill gathering held at
Teltown—where "Ruba's son and Dub Sléibe's son" were killed, but the annalistic record lacks sufficient context to explain what happened there and why.
The following year Conall Grant won a battle against a coalition of southern Uí Néill kings at
Kells, but was killed by Fergal mac Máele Dúin later that year.
In the early 720s, Fogartach's lands were under attack by the kings of Leinster and
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 ...
,
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 ...
. Fergal mac Máele Dúin undertook campaigns against Leinster in revenge, but was killed by the Leinstermen on one of these, at the battle of Allen, on 11 December 722. His brother Áed Laigin was slain in this battle.
High King
Fogartach replaced Fergal as High King, but himself fell victim to the war within the Síl nÁedo Sláine, being killed in the battle of Cenn Deilgden by his distant kinsman and successor
Cináed mac Írgalaig of the Uí Chonaing sept of North Brega. This was an old feud, Cináed's father having assassinated Fogartach's father in 701. The report of his death in the ''Annals of Ulster'' does not refer to him as High King.
Descendants
His sons included:
* Flann Foirbthe (died 716) who died in his father's lifetime.
** -His son Cernach was slain at the Battle of Bolg Bóinne in 770.
*
Cernach mac Fogartaig (died 738) killed by his criminal adherents.
*
Fergus mac Fogartaig (died 751) called King of South Brega at his death obit.
* Finsnechta mac Fogartaig (died 761)
*
Coirpre mac Fogartaig (died 771) called King of Brega in his death obit.
*
Fogartach mac Cummascaig (died 786) king of South Brega
* Cummuscach mac Fogartaig (flourished 778)
His descendants representing the main line of the Uí Chernaig sept based at
Lagore were in rivalry with his uncle Conall Grant's descendants, the Síl Conaill Graint based at Calatruim for the rule of southern Brega.
[Charles-Edwards, pg.572]
Notes
References
*
* ''Annals of Tigernach'' a
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Textsa
University College Cork*
Byrne, Francis John, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings.'' Batsford, London, 1973.
* Charles-Edwards, T.M., ''Early Christian Ireland.'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fogartach mac Neill
High Kings of Ireland
Kings of Brega
724 deaths
7th-century births
8th-century Irish monarchs