Ragnall mac Torcaill

Ragnall mac Torcaill (died 1146) was a twelfth-century Norse-Gaelic magnate who may have been King of Dublin. He was a member of the Meic Torcaill, and may be identical to a member of this family who campaigned in Wales in 1144. Ragnall was slain in 1146, with some sources styling him king in records of his demise. He was the father of at least one son, Ascall, a man who certainly reigned as king.

Background


Ragnall's father, a significant figure named Torcall, is mentioned by the sixteenth-century Annals of Loch Cé in 1133. Although Torcall's ancestry is uncertain, later sources suggest that his family—the Meic Torcaill—were a substantial landholding kindred in the region. Torcall's rise to power seems to have occurred at about a time when Kingdom of Dublin was closely aligned with Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster. The latter lost control of Dublin in 1141, however, as the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters reveals that the town was seized and held by Conchobar Ua Briain, overlord of Munster.

Dublin


Following Conchobar's ousting, the Annals of the Four Masters further indicates that the Dubliners installed a certain Islesman, Ottar mac meic Ottair, as King of Dublin in 1142. Two years later, Ottar, along with an unnamed member of the Meic Torcaill (who may well have been Ragnall himself) and an unnamed son of a certain Erulb, are noted in the context of mercenary operations in Wales by the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century texts Brenhinedd y Saesson and Brut y Tywysogyon, and the "B" and "C" versions of the eleventh- to thirteenth-century Annales Cambriæ. This episode seems to concern Dublin's military involvement in a Welsh factional dispute between Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr, sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd. It was in the course of this inter-dynastic struggle that Cadwaladr sought assistance from Ireland. At one point, the sources report that the Dubliners demanded two thousand captives or cattle for their assistance, a pay-off that evinces the kingdom's interest in the continuing twelfth-century slave trade. Contemporary sources reveal that a desire to extinguish the Irish Sea slave trade was one of the reasons the English used to justify their twelfth-century conquests in Ireland.

Death


Ragnall died in 1146. His slaying is reported by the fourteenth-century Annals of Tigernach, the twelfth-century Chronicon Scotorum, and the fifteenth-century Mac Carthaigh's Book. These sources accord Ragnall the title King of Dublin. If these accounts are to be believed, his reign would appear to have begun no earlier than 1144, and interrupted Ottar's reign. The Annals of the Four Masters, however, accords Ragnall the title mórmáer, which could indicate that he was merely a subordinate within Ottar's regime. Ragnall's death appears to have occurred in the context of conflict with the inhabitants of East Meath. The record of his demise —and the Dubliners' part in the slaying of Cellach Ua Cellaig, King of Brega within the same year —may partly evince the apparent north-western expansion by the Dubliners in the twelfth-century. Although Ottar could well have enjoyed the cooperation of the Meic Torcaill in the early part of his reign, the Annals of Tigernach and Chronicon Scotorum reveal that they were responsible for his slaying in 1148.

Descendants


Ragnall had at least one son, Ascall, who ruled as king for a brief period in the last half of the century. Several decades before, the Annals of the Four Masters reports the death of a certain "mac Mic Turgaill" in 1138. If Ragnall was the leading representative of the family at this point in history, the fact that the deceased individual is not accorded any title could indicate that he was a son of Ragnall. Another possibility is that this man was instead a son of Torcall himself, or perhaps some other member of the Meic Torcaill. Another son of Ragnall may be a certain Ragnall mac Ragnaill, styled tigerna Gall ("lord of the foreigners"), who is stated by the Annals of the Four Masters to have attended the great assembly convened by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, High King of Ireland in 1167. The name and title of this Ragnall suggest that he was either an otherwise unattested son of Ragnaill mac Torcaill, or else an annalist's mistake for Ascall himself.