The life of St. Patrick and his place in historyBury, J. B. (John Bagnell)
History
The life of St. Patrick and his place in history
Bury, J. B. (John Bagnell)
Christian saints -- Ireland -- Biography; Ireland -- Church history -- To 1172; Patrick, Saint, 373?-463?
These sources generally agree (with the exception of 3, which seems
to be worthless) that the three kings following Amolngaid were, in
order, Ailill Molt, Duach, and Eogan Bel. It is in regard to Duach that
the chief difficulty occurs, for he appears again in the lists as the
second (or third) king after Eogan Bel. He was son of Fergus, and is
distinguished as Tenga Uma, and is said to have fallen in the battle of
Segais. The Annals give the date of the Battle of Segais as A.D. 502
(_Ann. Ult._, _Ann. Inisf._) or 500 (Tigernach); but Tigernach has a
notice of Duach Tenga Uma under 550 (p. 139, ed. Stokes), and of his
death under 556 (as well as under 500). The list of O’Duinn distinguishes
clearly two Duachs: Duach Galach, son of Brian, who succeeded Ailill
Molt, and Duach son of Fergus, seventh in the list, who fell at the
battle of Segais. (The list in the _Book of Leinster_ also distinguishes
the two Duachs, designating the first as Galach and the second as Tenga
Uma).[411] This would put the battle of Segais about 550. The earlier
date of that battle must be accepted, as Muirchertach MacErca was
the victor in it, and the notice of it in the Annals is undoubtedly
independent of the lists of Connaught kings. It is also clear that there
was a fixed tradition that Duach Tenga Uma fell at Segais, since O’Duinn,
placing his reign at a later period, has to transfer the battle of Segais
along with him. We may therefore conclude that Duach Tenga Uma preceded
Eogan Bel, and fell in the battle of Segais A.D. 500/502. Now all the
lists agree in giving to the first Duach, who succeeded Ailill Molt,
nineteen or twenty years. This agrees with the circumstance that Ailill
Molt fell in the battle of Ocha A.D. 482.
Eogan Bel, the sources consent, fell in the battle of Sligech. The date
assigned to this battle in the Annals is A.D. 543 or 547 (both dates
in _Ann. Ult._ and Tigernach). The length of his reign is given in the
lists as thirty-seven (or thirty-four: the variation is obviously due
to confusion of uII and IIII); which is not long enough for either
of the obituary dates if he followed Duach in A.D. 500-2. Tigernach,
however, _s.a._ 503, gives his regnal years as forty-two; which would be
consistent with A.D. 543 for the battle of Sligech.
Ailill, the Womanly, Eogan Bel’s son and successor, was slain in the
battle of Cuil Conaire, which is noticed in the Annals _s.a._ 550.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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