Domnall macMuirchertach ua Néill, High King of Ireland

• Preferred Name: Domnall macMuirchertach ua Néill, High King of Ireland^{[1] [2] [3]}
  
• Alternate Name: Donal IV of Ireland O' Neill King
  
• Alternate Name: Domnall macMuirchertaig Glassary O'Neill
  
• Gender: M
  
• Birth: ABT 910 in Armagh, Dublin, Ireland at LATI: N3.3443 LONG: E6.2665
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: House of Ui Niell
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: High King of IrelandBET 954 AND 980
  
• FSID: L71H-767
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: 16th Chief of Clan MacNeil
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: King of Aileach and UlsterBET 943 AND 980
  
• Death: 980 in Monestry, Armagh, Ulster, Northern Ireland at LATI: N4.5833 LONG: E5.9167 with note: Monestry, Armagh, Ulster, Northern Ireland
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Domnall ua Néill, High King of Ireland was the son of Muircheartach 'na Cochall Craicenn', King of Ailech and Flann.
  
  He married Mor (?), daughter of Tadhg ‘of the Three Towers', King of Connaught. He died in 980.
  
  He was first of his family so styled, perhaps establishing this later surname as a quasi-title in the period 944–56 when to be grandson of Niall Glundubh meant to be heir to the high-kingship despite the usurpation of Congalach, King of Brega), Ardmacha.
  
  He was a member of the House of Cenél nEógain.
  He succeeded as the High King of Ireland in 956.
  
  Children of Domnall ua Néill, High King of Ireland and Mor (?)
  . Muiredach
  . Muircheartach 'Midheach' d. 977
  . Aedh II d. 1021
  . Aedh 'Craoibhe Tulcha', King of Ailech b. c 976, d. 1004
  _________________________________________________
  
  Domhnall ua Néill (anglicised as Donal O'Neill) died 980 and was High King of Ireland from 956 to 980.
  
  Domnall was the son of Muirchertach mac Néill, and grandson of Niall Glúndub, a member of the Cenél nEógain northern Uí Néill. He became co-King of Ailech with his brother Flaithbertach on the death of his father in 943. He became High King of Ireland on the death of his maternal cousin Congalach Cnogba of the southern Uí Néill sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine.
  
  Domnall is considered to have been an effective ruler who introduced military reforms later credited to Brian Boru. Much of his reign was spent in war against his sister Dúnflaith's husband Amlaíb Cuarán, the King of Dublin. In 980 he abdicated and entered the monastery Armagh where he died shortly afterwards.
  
  Domnall was called "High King of Ireland" (ard-rí Érenn) in his obituary, and was the last of his family to hold the title. He was succeeded by Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill of Clann Cholmáin.
  
  Domnall's children included Muiredach, whose son Lochlann may have been the ancestor of Domnall Ua Lochlainn, and Muirchertach, ancestor of the O'Neills of Tír Eógain. His grandson Flaithbertach Ua Néill was King of Ailech and the leading figure among the Uí Néill, certainly from the death of Máel Sechnaill in 1022, if not earlier.
  
  King of Ailech : 943–980
  with Flaithbertach mac Muirchertaig meic Néill (943–949)
  with Flaithbertach mac Conchobair, Tadg mac Conchobair and Conn mac Conchobair (956–962)
  with Murchad Glun re Lar mac Flaithbertaigh (962–972)
  
  Ancestory of MacNeill's
  Ancestors
  25 - Suibhne Ruadh
  24 - Duinsleve/Duinsleibhe
  23 - Aed Alainn an buirrche
  22 - Aedh II Anraddan/Anrothan,
  21 - Aedh Athlamhan,
  20 - Flaithberatch an trostain,
  19 - Muirchertach midigh,
  
  === THE PLANTAGENET ANCESTRY (GS NUMBESR Q94 ===
  THE PLANTAGENET ANCESTRY (GS NUMBESR Q940 D2T) P.145;
  
  === Donal the fourth of Armagh, King of Aile ===
  Donal the fourth of Armagh, King of Aileach and Ulster and Ardrigh, first
  to assume the name of Ua Nial ( Grandson of Nial) or O'Neill died in the
  monastry of Armagh in 978.
  
  === Book of McKee, pg 404 "Kings of Ireland" ===
  Book of McKee, pg 404 "Kings of Ireland" from O'Flaherty'e Ogygia which was written in 1684 during the reign of Charles II states Domnald O'Neill (Dmnall Ua Neill), grandson of Niall Glundubh, by his son Murchert (Murkertagh of the Leather Cloaks), king 24 years, from 956-980

• m. BEF 950 in Ireland

1. Title: Dictionary of Irish Biography
   Author: Contributed by Mac Shamhráin, Ailbhe Sources AU; AFM; O'Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 125, 135, 176; M. C. Dobbs, ‘The Ban-Shenchus’, Rev. Celt., xlviii (1931), 188, 227; Ó Corráin, Ire. before Normans, 33, 104, 119–20; Byrne, Ir. kings, 256–7, 267, 276, 284; NHI, ix, 128; ODNB
   Publication: Name: https://www.dib.ie/biography/ua-neill-domnall-a2676;
   Note: Ua Néill, Domnall (d. 980), grandson of Niall Glúndub (qv) and king of Tara, belonged to the Northern Uí Néill dynasty of Cenél nÉogain, the cause of which had been greatly advanced by his immediate forebears. He had at least three brothers, Flaithbertach (slain 949), Murchad, and Flann; and a sister, Dúnlaith. The Uí Néill overkingship had become destabilised as a result of the death of Domnall's father Muirchertach na Cochall Craicinn (qv) in 943, and the death of Muirchertach's Clann Cholmáin rival Donnchad Donn (qv) son of Flann Sinna (qv) the following year. The vacuum impelled Ruaidrí Ua Canannáin (qv) and Congalach Cnogba (qv) son of Máel-mithig to come forward from the long-suppressed dynasties of Cenél Conaill and Síl nÁedo Sláine and claim the kingship of Tara. An opportunity arose for Domnall, however, when Ruaidrí, who had previously slain Flaithbertach Ua Néill, fell in battle against the Norse of Dublin (950). Turning his attention to Congalach, who still held the kingship of Tara, he secured the support of Dublin and ravaged Mide (954). Congalach's death two years later at the hands of the Norsemen left the way clear for Domnall to seize the paramount kingship. The regnal list accords him a reign of twenty-five years as king of Tara. Having achieved supremacy among the Uí Néill, Domnall aimed to assert his authority over the other provincial kings. His marriage to Echrad, who belonged to the royal lineage of Osraige, should perhaps be viewed as a diplomatic stratagem towards this end. She became the mother of his son Muirchertach. Domnall had at least two other sons, Muiredach and Áed Ua Néill (qv) (d. 1004). By 962 he was at war with Munster and engaged in reasserting his authority over Mide. Three years later, he took the hostages of Fergal (qv) grandson of Ruarc, then overking of Connacht. In 968 he ravaged Leinster and the Norse kingdom of Dublin. Significantly, Domnall's main struggles were not with the Norsemen, who by this time were already in decline as a military power within Ireland, but rather with the Leinstermen and the men of Mide. Clann Cholmáin proved a constant thorn in his side, in spite of the fact that his sister Dúnlaith was married into that dynasty and was the mother of Máel-Sechnaill (qv) son of Domnall son of Donnchad Donn. A protracted campaign against Clann Cholmáin (970–71) resulted in Domnall's expulsion from Mide, causing an annalist to lament the deposition of a rightful king and to prophesy widespread crop-failure as punishment. In the event, he was back the following year, whereupon he adopted the strategy of placing a garrison in Mide. This innovation effectively ended the struggle; the strategy was especially notable in that it anticipated the more territorial notion of overlordship that developed in the course of the following two centuries. It is surely significant that Domnall is one of only eight Uí Néill rulers to be styled rí Érenn (king of Ireland) in the original hand of the Annals of Ulster, while his obit at 980 represents the first contemporary usage of the title ard-rí Érenn (high-king). His son Muirchertach had been slain by the king of Dublin in 977 and, ironically, his immediate family did not manage to emulate his achievements. While his son Áed (qv) and grandson Flaithbertach Ua Néill (qv) reigned as kings of Ailech, primacy within the Cenél nÉogain dynasty passed to the rival line of Mac Lochlainn; it was not till the thirteenth century that the Ua Néill line managed to regain its former dominance. Domnall's immediate successor as king of Tara, and the claimant to a developing high-kingship of Ireland, was his nephew and rival, Máel-Sechnaill of Clann Cholmáin.
   
2. Title: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
   Publication: Name: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/IRELAND.htm#Muirchertachdied943A;
   Note: DOMNALL (-Ard-Macha [978/80]). The Annals of the Four Masters record that “Domhnall Ua Neill, the son of Muircheartach, son of Niall Glundubb and…his brother” defeated “the foreigners of Loch-Eathach” and killed their king in 943[163]. King of Ireland. The Annals of the Four Masters record 955 as “the first year of Domhnall son of Muircheartach in sovereignty over Ireland”[164]. The Annals of the Four Masters record the death in 978 of “Domhnall son of Muircheartach, of the Leather Cloaks, son of Niall Glundubh” at “Ard-Macha” after reigning for 24 years[165]. The Annals of Tigernach record the death of “Domnall mac Muirchertaigh King of Tara” in [978/79] and the accession of “Mael Sechnaill Mor”[166]. The Annals of Inisfallen record the death in 980 of "Domnall Ua Néill king of Temuir”[167]. m ---. The name of Domnall´s wife is not known. Domnall & his wife had two children: a) MUIRCHERTACH (-killed 977). b) AEDH ([974/75]-killed in battle Craebh-tulcha 1004).
   
3. Title: Medieval Norse Studies
   Author: Kristen Mercier pp 20-23
   Publication: Name: https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/58230/Kristen-Mercier--Viking---Medieval-Norse-Studies---The-Socio-Political-Networks-of-Sitric-Silkenbeard-.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y;