Gíallchad, the son of
Ailill Olcháin, son of
Sírna Sáeglach, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, the 37th
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 ...
. Gíallchad took power after killing his predecessor, and the son of his grandfather's killer,
Elim Olfínechta, in the battle of Comair Trí nUisce. He is said to have taken one out of every five men of
Munster
Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
hostage. Gíallchad reigned for nine years, before being killed by Elim's son
Art Imlech at Mag Muaide. The ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn
''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...
'' synchronises his reign with that of
Phraortes
Phraortes, son of Deioces, was the second king of the Median kingdom.
Like his father Deioces, Phraortes started wars against Assyria, but was defeated and killed by the Assyrian king, probably Ashurbanipal (r. 669-631 BC).
Biography
All an ...
of the
Medes
The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...
(665–633
BCE). The chronology of
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 ...
's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' dates his reign to 786–777 BCE, that of the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' to 1023–1014 BCE.
['']Annals of the Four Masters
The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...
'
M4177-4186
/ref>
Gíallchad's son was Nuadu Finn Fáil.
References
Legendary High Kings of Ireland
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