Domnall mac Áeda
Quick Facts
Biography
Domnall mac Áeda (died 915) was a King of Ailech. He was a son of Áed Findliath mac Néill, High King of Ireland. Domnall was a half-brother of Niall Glúndub mac Áeda, a man with whom he shared the kingship of Ailech.
Family
He was a member of the Cenél nEógain branch of the Uí Néill dynasty. His father was Áed Findliath mac Néill, High King of Ireland (died 879). Another son of Áed Findliath, and half-brother of Domnall himself, was Niall Glúndub (died 919). Domnall and Niall Glúndub shared the kingship of Ailech for several years. In 905, the two are reported to have prepared to fight a duel before coming to an understanding. In 908, the men campaigned against in Meath against the rival Clann Cholmáin branch of the Uí Néill.
Life and death
Domnall's son, Flann, died in 906. Domnall retired to a monastic life in 911, after which Niall Glúndub ruled as sole King of Ailech. Domnall died on 21 March 915. The deaths of Domnall, as well as those of his father and half-brother, are recorded by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba. The notice of Domnall's death in this source has cause confusion in regards to the historiography of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Specifically, Domnall's obituary is placed immediately after that of Dyfnwal, King of the Britons (died 908×915). The fact that the chronicle renders Domnall's kingdom as elig, a term which can be mistakenly interpreted as an abbreviation of eligitur ("he was selected"), has led to the erroneous belief that the ruling Alpínid dynasty of Alba had inserted a member of its own—an otherwise unknown brother of Custantín mac Áeda, King of Alba (died 952) named Domnall—to succeed the deceased Dyfnwal.