Muirchertach's Illness
Archived: 26 September 2026
In 1114, Muirchertach Ua Briain’s illness shattered his dominance of Ireland, enabling his brother Diarmait to seize Munster and confine him at Killaloe. Domnall Ua Lochlainn led a northern coalition into Munster, but its campaign ended in a year’s truce, influenced by the independent Connacht king, Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair. Tairdelbach suppressed rivals, raided Meath and consolidated Connacht. Elsewhere, warfare, killings, depositions and blinding exposed unstable successions. Church reform coexisted with monastic institutions, whose leaders’ deaths and fires were recorded. Raids, forced provisioning and livestock disease damaged communities. No settlement emerged: Uí Briain power waned as Connacht became a decisive rival.