Congal Cáech
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Congal Cáech (also Congal Cláen) was a king of the Cruithne of Dál nAraidi, in modern Ulster, from around 626 to 637. He was the son of Scandal Sciathlethan and grandson of Fiachnae mac Báetáin (Fiachnae Lurgan). The Fled Dúin na nGéd makes Congal a grandson of Eochaid Buide, King of Dál Riata, which is unconfirmed by other sources but chronologically feasible. This would make Congal the nephew of his ally Domnall Brecc.
Congal is presumed to have become king of the Dál nAraidi following his grandfather Fiachnae, but he is unlikely to have imposed himself as king of the Ulaid until some time after the death of Fiachnae mac Demmáin in 627. He first appears in the record in 628, when he killed Suibne Mend of the Cenél nEógan, supposedly High King of Ireland, at "Taerr Bréni". This killing may have opened Congal's way to becoming king of the Ulaid, but it also brought Domnall mac Áedo of the Cenél Conaill, Congal's nemesis, to the headship of the Northern Uí Néill. In 629, Congal appears to have defeated the Dál Riata at Fid Eóin, killing Connad Cerr, although the victor is named as Maél Caích, perhaps an otherwise unknown brother of Congal. As well as their king, the Dál Riata suffered the loss of two grandsons of Áedán mac Gabráin and the Bernician exile Osric (perhaps a son of Æthelfrith) was also killed. Shortly afterwards Congal was defeated by Domnall mac Áedo at Dún Ceithirn and fled the field of battle. Domnall mac Áedo dominated events in the years that followed, until around 637, when Congal, together with Domnall Brecc of Dál Riata challenged him at the battle of Mag Rath (Moira, County Down). Domnall mac Áedo was victorious and Congal was killed in the defeat. This battle appears in the Buile Shuibhne and is recounted in the Cath Maige Rath.
Congal's epithets cáech and cláen mean "squinting" or "half blind". An ancient law on bees in the Brecbetha, written within a generation of Congal's death, links these epithets with Congal being blinded in one eye by bees owned by Domnall mac Áedo. This, it says, put Congal out of the kingship of Tara. No later sources make Congal a High King of Ireland, which is largely the same as the kingship of Tara, but the Cath Maige Rath echoes the Brecbetha in claiming that the men of Ulaid demanded that the eye of the beekeeper's son — a son of the High King Domnall mac Áedo — be put out in repayment.
References
- Bannerman, John, Studies in the History of Dalriada. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1974. ISBN 0-7011-2040-1
- Byrne, Francis John, Irish Kings and High-Kings. Batsford, London, 1973. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
- Kelly, Fergus, A Guide to Early Irish Law. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin, reprinted 2005. ISBN 0-901282-95-2
- Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí, Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200. Longman, London, 1995. ISBN 0-582-01565-0
External links
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