Bridges and Broken Peace
Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht, was expanding rapidly beyond his provincial base. The death of Muirchertach Ua Briain in 1119 had removed the most formidable southern claimant to the kingship of Ireland, but Domnall Mac Lochlainn remained alive and powerful in the north. Domnall, overking of Cenél nEógain and much of northern Ireland, did not die until 10 February 1121. Toirdelbach should therefore be understood in 1120 as an ambitious claimant operating against opposition, not as the universally accepted successor to a vacant throne.