It has been, however, remarked by ancient and modern Irish writers that this execrable act of Mongfinn had not the desired effect, for that neither her son Brian, nor any of her posterity, was ever monarch of Ireland, except Turlogh O'Conor and his son Roderic. According to all our ancient authorities King Eochaidh had a second wife, Carinna, who is said to have been of old Saxon descent, and who was the mother of the youngest, though by far the most celebrated, of his sons, namely, Niall of the Nine Hostages, the ancestor of O'Neill of Ulster, and all the other families of the Hy-Niall race. It is stated in the Book of Ballymote, fol. 145, b, a, that the poisoning of her brother Crimthann was of no avail to Queen Mongfinn, for that Niall of the Nine Hostages, the son of King Eochaidh by his second wife, and who had been the general of King Crimthann's forces, succeeded as monarch of Ireland immediately after the poisoning of Crimthann. This clearly shows either that Carinna was Eochaidh's first wife, or that he had the two together, for Mongfinn survived him thirteen years, and Niall of the Nine Hostages, the son, as we are told, of the second wife, was of age to succeed as monarch immediately after Mongfinn had poisoned her brother and herself. However this may have been, we read that in the life-time of Niall of the Nine Hostages, Brian, his brother of the half blood, became King of Connaught, and his second eldest brother of the half blood, Fiachra, the ancestor of the O'Dowds and of all the Hy-Fiachrach tribes, became chief of the district extending from Carn Fearadhaigh, near Limerick, to Magh Mucroimhe, near Athenry. But dissensions soon arose between Brian and his brother Fiachra, and the result was that a battle was fought between them, in which the latter was defeated, captured, and delivered as a hostage into the hands of his half brother, Niall of the Nine Hostages. After this, however, Dathi, the son of Fiachra, a very warlike youth, waged war on his uncle Brian, and challenged him to a pitched battle, at a place called Damh-chluain, situated not far from Knockmaa hill, near Tuam, in the now county of Galway. In this battle, in which Dathi was assisted by Crimthann, son of Enna Cennselach, King of Leinster, Brian and his forces were routed, and pursued from the field of battle to Tulcha Domhnaill, where he was overtaken and slain by Crimthann, son of Enna Cennselach.
The body of Brian was buried at the place where he fell, but after a long lapse of years St Beo Aedli, or Aidus vivax, of Roscam, near Galway, removed his bones from that place, and buried them at Roscam; and the writer of the tract on the battle of Damh-cluain, preserved in the Book of Ballymote, adds, ‘the burial-place of Brian is to be seen there at this day.’ |
