Crimthann mac Énnai
Crimthann mac Énnai (d. 486)[1] was a King of Leinster from the Uí Cheinnselaig sept of the Laigin. He was the son of Énnae Cennsalach, the ancestor of this dynasty.[2]
It is not known when he acquired the throne but, in the annals record of the Battle of Áth Dara, on the River Barrow in Mag Ailbe (South County Kildare), in 459, both the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicum Scotorum name Crimthann as the leader of the Laigin forces.[3] The Laigin defeated the high king Lóegaire mac Néill (d.462) and captured him. They released him after he promised not to levy the cattle-tribute from Leinster again.
Crimthann was baptized by Saint Patrick at Ráith Bilech (Rathvilly, Co.Carlow))[4]
The Annals of The Four Masters claim he was present at the Battle of Ocha of 484 when the high king Ailill Molt was slain but this is not confirmed by the other annals.[5]
The annals record that he was slain (mortally wounded) in 486 and the Chronicum Scotorum specifies that Eochaid Guinech of the Uí Bairrche and the men of Arad Cliach were responsible.[6] The Annals of the Four Masters state that Eochaid Guinech was the son of his daughter.[7]
According to Keating, his wife's name was Congain. They had a daughter named Eithne Uatahach (d.489), who was fostered by the Deisi and was married to Óengus mac Nad Froích (d.489), the first Christian king of Munster.[8] She was killed along with her husband at the Battle of Cenn Losnada in Mag Fea (near Leighlin, County Carlow) in 489 by the Uí Dúnlainge sept and the same Eochaid Guinech of the Ui Bairrche who had slain her father.[9]
His known son was named Nath Í mac Crimthainn, a King of the Uí Cheinnselaig. Nath Í's sons, Éogan Cáech (a king of the Uí Cheinnselaig) founded the Síl Fáelchán, Sil Máeluidir, Síl nÉladaig, and Síl Mella septs, and Cormacc founded the Sil Chormaic sept.
Notes
- ^ all dates per The Chronology of the Irish Annals, Daniel P. McCarthy
- ^ Francis J.Byrne, Irish Kings and High-Kings, Table 8
- ^ Annals of Ulster AU 458.1; Chronicum Scotorum 458
- ^ T.M.Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland , pg.234
- ^ Annals of the Four Masters M 478.1
- ^ Annals of Ulster AU 485.2; Chronicum Scotorum 484
- ^ Annals of the Four Masters M 465.4; it gives a much earlier date than the other annals for his death placing it in 465
- ^ Geoffrey Keating, History of Ireland, Book I, pg.315-317
- ^ Annals of Ulster AU 490.2, 491.3 ; Annals of Tigernach AT 489.2
See also
References
- Annals of Ulster at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
- Annals of the Four Masters at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
- Annals of Tigernach at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
- Chronicum Scotorum at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
- Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), Early Christian Ireland, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-36395-0
- Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 978-1-85182-196-9
- Geoffrey Keating, History of Ireland at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
- Revised edition of McCarthy's synchronisms at Trinity College Dublin.