Cormac mac Cuilennáin (died 13 September 908) was anIrishbishop and theking of Munster from 902 until his death at theBattle of Bellaghmoon. He was killed inLeinster.
Cormac was regarded as a saintly figure after his death, and his shrine atCastledermot,County Kildare, was said to be the site of miracles. He was reputed to be a great scholar and is credited with the authorship of theSanas Cormaic (Cormac's Glossary),The Rule of Cormac (which stressed the need for humility, spiritual discipline and the study of scripture) and the now-lostPsalter of Cashel, among other works.[2] The reliability of some of the traditions concerning Cormac is doubtful. His feast day is September 14.[3]
The Ireland of Cormac's time was divided into small kingdoms ortúatha, perhaps 150 in all, on average around 500 square kilometres in area, with a population of some 3000 each. In theory, but not in practice, eachtuath had its own king, bishop, and court. Variations in size and power were very considerable. Groups oftuatha were dominated by one of their number, whose king was their collective ruler. Above these stood the five great provincial kingships whose names survive in theprovinces of Ireland:Connacht,Leinster,Ulster, Meath, and Cormac'sMunster. To these can be added the kings of the northern and southernUí Néill. These last provided were theHigh Kings of Ireland, kings whose authority was an increasingly obvious political fact in Ireland of the 8th and 9th centuries.[4] In Cormac's time the High Kingship was held byFlann Sinna of theClann Cholmáin branch of the southern Uí Néill. In addition to these native Irish kings, Ireland had also seenScandinavian andNorse-Gael kings establish themselves along the coasts during theViking Age. The destruction of Viking settlements on the northern coasts by Flann's predecessorÁed Findliath, followed by much internal dissension, had weakened the Vikings, who were expelled fromDublin by Flann's allies in the year that Cormac became the king of Munster.[5]
Cormac belonged to a minor branch of theEóganachta clan which dominated Munster in the 8th and 9th centuries. According togenealogies, he was a member of theEóganacht Chaisil, theCashel branch of the clan. This kin group was important, but Cormac came from a very minor branch. He was considered to be an eleventh-generation descendant ofÓengus mac Nad Froích and none of his ancestors since Óengus were counted as kings of Cashel. Cormac, as well as other 9th century kings of Munster who were bishops and abbots, was probably a compromise candidate.[6]
TheAnnals of the Four Masters, a 17th-century compilation of annals based on earlier works, but including much of uncertain reliability, state that Cormac was tutored by Snedgus ofDísert Díarmata (nowCastledermot).[7] Some later accounts claim that Cormac had been married or betrothed to Gormlaith, daughter of Flann Sinna, theHigh King of Ireland, but instead took vows of celibacy. Paul Russell. writing in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography suggests these are later fictions and historianFrancis John Byrne saw an echo of earlier tales of thesovereignty goddess in them.[8] Although there is no doubt that Cormac was a bishop before and while he was king of Munster, it is not clear whichsee Cormac held. Some writers have suggested that he should be linked withEmly rather than Cashel.
Cormac was chosen as king of Munster following the death ofFinguine Cenn nGécan, who is said by theAnnals of Ulster to have been "deceitfully killed by his associates" and by theAnnals of Innisfallen to have been killed by the Cenél Conaill Chaisil, a branch of the Cashel Eóganachta.[9] TheAnnals of Innisfallen note the beginning of Cormac's reign and call him a "noble bishop and celibate".[10]
Cormac may have attempted to restore the authority of the kings of Munster over neighbouringLeinster and perhaps aspired to be chief king in Ireland. The surviving record, written largely from a northern and pro-Uí Néill perspective, presents a misleading picture and understates the power and pretensions of the Eóganachta.[11] The southernAnnals of Innisfallen report campaigns in 907 by Cormac inConnacht andMide, where Flann Sinna was defeated atMag Lena, and record a fleet operating on theRiver Shannon on his orders which capturedClonmacnoise.[12]
In 908, Cormac andFlaithbertach mac Inmainén, Cormac's chief councillor and abbot ofScattery Island, collected an army to campaign against their eastern neighbours,Leinster, whose kingCerball mac Muirecáin was Flann Sinna's son-in-law and staunch ally. TheFragmentary Annals of Ireland, a source compiled in the 11th century forDonnchad mac Gilla Pátraic,king of Osraige, andking of Leinster, contain a long account of these events, perhaps written within living memory.[13]
After the army of Munster had gathered, Flaithbertach mac Inmainén's horse stumbled and threw him to the ground while riding through the camp; it was taken to be a very bad omen. Many of the Munstermen were unwilling to fight, and news reached Cerball mac Muirecáin, who proposed a negotiated settlement. The Leinstermen would pay tribute, and give hostages, but the hostages would be given to Móenachem abbot of Dísert Díarmata, rather than to the Munstermen. Cormac was willing to accept this settlement, but Flaithbertach—Byrne notes that later traditions make Flaithbertach Cormac's evil genius[14]— was not and persuaded Cormac to fight, in spite of the king's conviction that he would be killed.[15]
This, and the news that Flann and the Uí Néill had come to Cerball's aid, led to desertions from Cormac's army, but he continued to march to Leinster and met Cerball and Flann atBellach Mugna (Bellaghmoon, in the south of modern County Kildare). TheFragmentary Annals say that "the men of Munster came to the battle weak and in disorder" and they quickly broke and fled the field. Many were killed; Cormac was among them after he broke his neck from falling off his horse. Flaithbertach was captured.[16]
Cormac was beheaded and his head was taken to Flann Sinna. TheFragmentary Annals say:
"That is indeed evil," said Flann to them, and it was not thanks that he gave them. "It was an evil deed," he said, "to cut off the holy bishop's head; I shall honour it, and not crush it." Flann took the head in his hands, and kissed it, and he carried the consecrated head and the true martyr around him three times.[17]
Following Cormac's death, Munster was seemingly without a king for some years until Flaithbertach mac Inmainén was chosen, apparently another compromise candidate.[18]
Cormac was reckoned to be a saint in the 11th century by contemporary evidence. TheFragmentary Annals of Ireland state that Cormac was buried at Dísert Díarmata where he was honoured, and add that "Cormac's body ... produces omens and miracles".[20]
TheFragmentary Annals are equally glowing in their praise of Cormac's scholarship and piety: "A scholar in Irish and in Latin, the wholly pious and pure chief bishop, miraculous in chastity and in prayer, a sage in government, in all wisdom, knowledge and science, a sage of poetry and learning, chief of charity and every virtue; a wise man in teaching, high king of the two provinces of all Munster in his time."[21]
A variety of works have been associated with Cormac, such as theSanas Cormaic, a glossary of difficult words in Irish in the style ofIsidore of Seville, which bears his name. While the core of the document dates from around Cormac's time, and may in some way be linked to him, it is uncertain if he was the compiler of even the original list. The lostPsalter of Cashel and theLebor na Cert—the Book of Rights—is also linked to Cormac. The works that survive today are probably from the time ofMuirchertach Ua Briain.[22] Liam Breatnach also attributes Amra Senáin to Cormac.[23]
Cormac mac Cuilennáin mac Selbach mac Ailgile mac Eochaid mac Colmán mac Dúnchad mac Dub Indrecht mac Furudrán mac Eochaid mac Bressal macÓengus mac Nad Froich macCorc.[24]
Cormac mac Cuilennáin | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Munster c.902–908 | Succeeded by |
