- Cellach mac Máele Coba
Cellach mac Máele Coba (died 658) was an Irish king and is said to have been
High King of Ireland .Cellach was the son of
Máel Coba mac Áedo (died 615) and belonged to theCenél Conaill branch of the northernUí Néill . [Byrne, Table 4; Charles-Edwards, Appendix IV; Mac Niocaill, pg.153] According to theIrish annals derived from the "Chronicle of Ireland ", he may have been High King, jointly with his brotherConall Cóel , following the death of his uncleDomnall mac Áedo in 642. The "Annals of Ulster " for 643 say: ["Annals of Ulster", AU 643.7]Here there is doubt as to who reigned after Domnall. Some historiographers say that four kings, namely Cellach and Conall Cóel and the two sons of
Áed Sláine , namely Diarmait and Blathmac, ruled in shared reigns.All four putative successors to Domnall had been his allies at the great
Battle of Mag Roth in 637, whereCongal Cáech was defeated at the authority of the Uí Néill re-established, and it is not implausible that all four ruled together. He ruled from 643-654 [king lists in "Book of Leinster" give him 15 year reign and "Laud Synchronisms" 14 years] The king lists give Cellach and Conall as reigning before Diarmait and Blathmac. [Charles-Edwards, pg.485] Both Cellach and Conall are omitted from the earliest king list-a late 7th century poem "Baile Chuinn". [Charles-Edwards, pg.484]A challenge to their authority occurred in the north when their cousin Óengus mac Domnaill was defeated and killed at the Battle of Dún Cremthainn by Conall and Cellach in 650. [AU 650.2; "Annals of Tigernach", AT 650.2; Mac Niocaill, pg.98] Conall Cóel was killed by Diarmait in 654 while Cellach died in 658, perhaps at
Bru na Bóinne . [AU 654.1, 658.1; AT 657.1] It is possible Cellach had been captured by Diarmait in 654 and died a prisoner. [Mac Niocaill, pg.98]His daughter Cacht ingen Cellaig married
Máel Dúin mac Máele Fithrich (died 681) King of Ailech.Notes
References
* "Annals of Ulster" at [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100001A/index.html] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* "Annals of Tigernach" at [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/index.html] at [http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Cork]
* Byrne, Francis John, "Irish Kings and High-Kings." Batsford, London, 1973. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
* Charles-Edwards, T.M., "Early Christian Ireland." Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. ISBN 0-521-39395-0
* Mac Niocaill, Gearoid (1972), "Ireland before the Vikings", Dublin: Gill and Macmillan
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