Talk:Maine mac Cearbhall

Cenel Maine
First, Maine mac Cearbhall is a Southern Ui Neill and not a Ui Maine.

Prof. Byrnes comments in his book "Irish Kings and High Kings", 1979, Page 92:

"In 538 Diarmait mac Cerbaill’s brother Maine (the coincidence of his name is quite fortuitous) was defeated and slain at the battle of Claenloch near Gort in south Galway. According to the Annals of Tigernach, a Clonmacnoise compilation, he was slain by the king of the Ui Fiachrach Aidne, Goibnenn mac Conaill, while attempting to claim the claim the homage of the Ui Maine Connacht. In the later king-lists Maine mac Cerbaill is called king of Uisnech. In the minds of compilers this meant that he was over-king of the Southern Ui Neill, but this is probably an anachronism, especially since Tuathal Maelgarb is supposed to have been high-king of Tara at this date."

The next paragraph concern the grafting of Maine Mor and Ui Maine onto the Dal Cuinn pedigree.

The nest paragraph is on the Cenel Maine mac Neill: "As for the Cenel Maine maic Neill, our two earliest genealogical manuscripts (both of which are from the twelfth century) differ irreconcilably as to the pedigree of that Aed mac Brenainn who granted Burrow to Colum Cille. We may suspect then that eastern Maine was so successfully absorbed into the Ui Neill ambit that their kings, by a politic fiction, were accepted into the dominant dynastic circle. The parting of the ways between Connachta and Ui Neill then led to the total separation of the Ui Maine and Cenel Maine. The fact that the annalistic obit of Maine mac Neill in 440 is so much earlier than that of any of his supposed brothers also suggests that he was adopted into the dynasty some time after the synthetic historians had agreed to push back the date of Niall's reign by a generation or more."

Here Prof Byrnes is talking about the descendants of Maine mac Neill (i.e. Maine son Niall of the Nine hostages), whose death is given in the Annals in 440.)

In the 'Book of Ballymote' notes a that a Cenel Maine is descend from Maine mac Cearbhall: "Fergus cerrbel .ui. mc. leis .i. Fiach a quo .H. Fhiaich Maine a quo Cenel Maine & Garban a quo .H. Garban la firu Breagh. Diarmaid (.i. mc. Fergusa Cerbel) .iiii. mc. leis .i. Colman mor, Colman beg, Aedh slane, Maelduin o fuilet Muinter Maelduin i Cluain mc. Nois."

Could Maine mac Cearbhall be the origin to Cenel Maine mac Neill of Teffia who Prof. Byrnes would like to think of as an eastern branch of Ui Maine Mor?

Two pages for Maine mac C.
It seems that there are two separate pages for the same person, which should be amalgamated:
 * Maine mac Cearbhall; this one; modern spelling but incorrect genetive, recte Cearbhaill; King of Uí Maine
 * Maine mac Cerbaill; Old Irish spelling; King of Uisneach