Colman Mar mac Diarmato (died 555/558) was an Irish king, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill . Early sources and older scholarship distinguish two sons of Diarmait, Colman Mar (Colman the Elder) and Colman Bec (Colman the Younger), although some scholars suggest there was only one Colman mac Diarmato. There are some traces of Colman Bec in the Irish annals , but so far as Colman Mar is concerned only his putative death is recorded.

According to the traditional account, found in genealogical sources, Diarmait mac Cerbaill had three known sons, two of whom were called Colman. Colman Bec's mother is said to have been Brea daughter of the Conmaicne , a Connacht people. ^[1] Colman Mar's mother, Eithne, daughter of Brenainn Dall of the Conmaicne. Other sources claim that Eithne was also a wife of Diarmait's son Aed Slaine , and yet others say that she also married Aed's son Blathmac . ^[2]

Both Colmans were regarded as the founders of later dynasties. Colman Mar, to whom the genealogists gave two sons, Suibne and Fergus , was the eponymous ancestor of Clann Cholmain , a dynasty which dominated the southern Ui Neill from the 8th century to the early 11th century, and which supplied many kings of Tara . Colman Bec was regarded as the ancestor of the much less important dynasty of Clann Cholmain Bic, later Caille Follamain , through a son Oengus . ^[3]

The only record of Colman Mar in the annals is a report of his death in the 550s. ^[4] A number of difficulties have been noted with the chronology of Colman Mar's death in relation to the floruit of his supposed sons and brothers, with the early appearance of his Latinate name, and with the record of the annals. Ailbhe Mac Shamhrain concludes "...Colman Mar is a hollow figure and looks suspiciously like an artificial creation...". ^[5] It is suggested that Colman Mar was added to the genealogies in the time of Domnall Midi (died 763). ^[6]

The first record of Colman Bec in the annals is in the 560s, when he is reported to have undertaken an expedition to Iardoman ? glossed as " Seil and Islay ", but sometimes understood to mean the Inner Hebrides more generally?along with Conall mac Comgaill . ^[7]

In the 570s, the annals record Colman Bec's defeat at a battle at Femen. Some sources add that he was defeated by Coirpre Cromm mac Crimthainn , who is recorded as the provincial overking of Munster . ^[8] There were at least two notable places named Femen, one near to the Hill of Tara , the other near to Cashel . ^[9] Some historians have supposed that this battle in fact concerned internal Ui Neill disputes. ^[10]

Colman Bec's final appearances in the historical record are in the 580s, perhaps 586 and 587. In 586, the annals report the killing of Baetan mac Ninneda , whom they claim to have been king of Tara, "according to Colman Bec's plan" by Colman's son Cummene and a kinsman of the same name, a grandson of Diarmait's brother Illand. The following year there is a report of Colman Bec's death, fighting against Aed mac Ainmuirech , at the unlocated Belach Dathi . ^[11]

See also [ edit ]

• Kings of Uisnech

References [ edit ]

Bibliography [ edit ]

• Annals of Tigernach at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Annals of Ulster at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Annals of the Four Masters at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Annals of Innisfallen at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Byrne, Francis J. (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings (2nd ed.), Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN   978-1-85182-196-9
• Connon, Anne, "Prosopography II: A Prosopography of the Early Queens of Tara", in Bhreathnach, Edel (ed.), The Kingship and Landscape of Tara , Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 225?327, ISBN   1-85182-954-7
• Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), Early Christian Ireland , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN   0-521-36395-0
• Connon, Anne, "Prosopography II: A Prosopography of the Early Queens of Tara", in Bhreathnach, Edel (ed.), The Kingship and Landscape of Tara , Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 159?224, ISBN   1-85182-954-7
• Mac Shamhrain, Ailbhe (2000), " Nebulae discutiuntur ? The emergence of Clann Cholmain sixth-eighth centuries", in Smyth, Alfred P. (ed.), Seanchas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of Francis J. Byrne , Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 83?97, ISBN   1-85182-489-8
• Mac Shamhrain, Ailbhe; Byrne, Paul, "Prosopography I: Kings named in Baile Chuinn Chetchathaig and the Airgialla Charter Poem", in Bhreathnach, Edel (ed.), The Kingship and Landscape of Tara , Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 225?327, ISBN   1-85182-954-7
• Book of Leinster , Rig Uisnig at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Laud Synchronisms at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork

External links [ edit ]

• CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork