Origins
Domnall was the son of a certain Artgar son of Lochlann. Genealogical compilations, such as that surviving in the Rawlinson B.502 manuscript trace Domnall's ancestry back, through the High King Domnall ua Néill, and his father the heroic Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks, to Niall Glúndub. The reality appears to be subtly different as demonstrated by the records in the Book of Leinster. Rather than being the descendants of Lochlann, grandson of Domnall ua Néill, the Mac Lochlainn appear to have be descended from another Lochlann, Lochlann mac Maíl Sechnaíll, a descendant of Niall Glúndub's less renowned brother Domnall Dabaill. Nonetheless, the Mac Lochlainn were members of the Cenél nEógain branch of the Uí Néill, and could rightly claim famous ancestors, albeit in the 9th century and earlier. Under Domnall, the Cenél nEógain were again a significant force in Irish politics.
In the years before Domnall, the Cenél nEógain had been largely bereft of effective leadership, so much so that Conchobar Ua Briain of Munster, cousin and bitter enemy of Toirdelbach, had been invited to take the kingship of the Telach Óg branch of the kindred, and following Conchobar's murder in 1078, his brother Cennétig was invited to succeed him.
Domnall became king of Ailech in 1083 and began his reign in traditional fashion, with an inaugural raid—crech ríg—against the Conaille Muirthemne (in the region of modern Dundalk, County Louth). The Annals of Ulster state that Domnall "carried off a great prey of cattle and gave stipends from that prey to the men of Fernmag ".
However, a matrilinial kinsman of Toirdelbach, Muirchertach Ua Briain, moved to oppose the rule of Mac Lochlainn between 1101 and 1119.
Read more about this topic: Domnall Ua Lochlainn
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