Áed Allán

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Áed Allán (or Áed Allán mac Fergaile) (died 743) was an 8th century Irish king of Ailech, sometimes considered to have been High King of Ireland. Áed Allán was the son of Fergal mac Máel Dúin and a member of the Cenél nEógan, a branch of the Northern Uí Néill.

Fergal was killed, along with many others, at the battle of Almain, in 722, fought against Murchad mac Brain of the Uí Dúnlainge, the king of Leinster. The king of the Northern Uí Néill at this time was Flaithbertach mac Loingsig of the Cenél Conaill. Áed Allán faced Flaithbertach in battle at Mag Itha in 734, and was defeated. Nonetheless, Flaithbertach abdicated shortly after and joined the monastery at Ard Macha (Armagh).

The chief requirement of a would-be High King was success in battle, and Áed Allán faced the Ulaid, under Áed Róin of the Dál Fiatach at Fochairt, near Dundalk. The kings of the Ulaid controlled most of eastern Ulster while the Cenél nEógan heartland lay in the later County Tyrone. Áed Allán defeated the Ulaid, killing Áed Róin and the king of the Uí Echach Cobo.

In 737, Áed Allán met with the Eóganachta king Cathal mac Finguine at Terryglass, probably neutral ground outwith the control of either king. Byrne says that it is unlikely that Cathal, king of Munster, acknowledged Áed Allán's authority — the Uí Néill had little enough influence in the south — but if Cathal had expected some benefit from the meeting, where he perhaps acknowledged the ecclesiastical supremacy of Armagh, he was to be disappointed. However, the clerics of Armagh may have been well satisfied as the Annals of Ulster, in the entry following that which reports the meeting of Áed Allán and Cathal, say that the law of Patrick was in force in Ireland. The presumably means that Áed Allán and Cathal agreed to the special treatment of the church, its lands and its tenants, as prescribed by the law of Patrick.

In 738, Áed Allán fought against the armies of Leinster at the battle of Áth Senaig — the battle of groans. The Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Tigernach devote considerable space to the battle, in which Áed Allán was wounded and the Leinster king Áed mac Colggan of the Uí Chennselaig killed. Bran Bec of the Uí Dúnlainge, the son of that Murchad mac Brain who had defeated Áed Allán's father in 722, was also killed. The Annals of Ulster say:

And men say that so many fell in this great battle that we find no comparable slaughter in a single onslaught and fierce conflict throughout all preceding ages.

This defeat seems to have crushed the Uí Chennselaig as, for almost three centuries after the battle of Áth Senaig, the Uí Dúnlainge dominated the kingship of Leinster.

Áed Allán died in 743, in battle at Seredmag, defeated by Domnall Midi of Clann Cholmáin. The Annals quote a verse supposedly composed by Áed Allán on the day of battle:

If my dear God had spared me
On the shore of Loch Sailchedáin,
Were I to commit sin thereafter,
It would have been like giving valuables to a slave.

Áed Allán was succeeded as king of Ailech by his brother Niall Frossach and the lists of High Kings, such as that in the Annals of the Four Masters, have him followed Domnall Midi.

References

Byrne, Francis John, Irish Kings and High-Kings. Batsford, London, 1973. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí, Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200. Longman, London, 1995. ISBN 0-582-01565-0

External links

[CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts] at [University College Cork] The Corpus of Electronic Texts includes the Annals of Ulster, Tigernach and the Four Masters as well as Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress

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