Niall mac Eochada

Niall mac Eochada (died 1063),^[1] was king of Ulaid from 1016.

His father, Eochada mac Ardgair, died in 1004. His early military ventures were against members of his own sept, Dál Fiatach. He defeated a cousin in 1012 at the ‘battle of the Summits’ and in 1020 defeated and blinded Flaithbertach Ua Eochada^[1]

In 1022 he defeated the Dublin Norse at sea.^[2] He then defeated the Cenél nEógain client kingdom of Airgialla. In 1024 he invaded Dublin and took hostages; a success he repeated two years later.^[1]

In 1044 mac Eochada raided the southern Uí Néill kingdom of Brega, but was defeated losing 200 men^[1]

In 1047 He made an alliance with Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó which helped to put pressure, from both north and south, on the kingdoms of Mide, Brega and Dublin ^[3]

In 1056 the southern Uí Néill took 3000 cows and 60 captives from his client Kingdom Dál nAraidi which was also raided by the Cenél nEógain in 1059.^[1]

Niall's son Eochaid (died 1062) was considered co-king of Ulaid with his father. Eochaid's son Donn Sléibe Ua hEochada (died 1091) was also a king of Ulaid, as were many of his descendants.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Benjamin T. Hudson, ‘Niall mac Eochada (d. 1063)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 18 April 2008
2. ^ Heald, Henrietta (1992). Chronicle of Britain. Jacques Legrand. p. 172. ISBN 0192116959. 
3. ^ Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200, Longman, London, 1995, p. 52. ISBN 0-582-01565-0
4. ^ Francis John Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, Batsford, London, 1973, p. 286, table 6. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8

Persondata
Name	Niall Mac Eochada
Alternative names
Short description	King of Ulaid
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1063
Place of death