Colmán Bec

Who is Colmán Bec?

Colmán mac Diarmato was an Irish king, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Early sources and older scholarship distinguish two sons of Diarmait, Colmán Bec and Colmán Már, although it is now supposed that only Colmán Bec was a historical figure, Colmán Már being a later genealogical invention. There are some traces of Colmán Bec in the Irish annals, but so far as Colmán Már is concerned only his putative death is recorded.

According to the traditional account, found in genealogical sources, Diarmait mac Cerbaill had three known sons, two of whom were called Colmán. Colmán Bec's mother is said to have been Brea daughter of the Conmaicne, a Connacht people. Colmán Már's mother, Eithne, daughter of Brénainn Dall of the Conmaicne. Other sources claim that Eithne was also a wife of Diarmait's son Áed Sláine, and yet others say that she also married Áed's son Blathmac.

Both Colmáns were regarded as the founders of later dynasties. Colmán Már, to whom the genealogists gave two sons, Suibne and Fergus, was the eponymous ancestor of Clann Cholmáin, a dynasty which dominated the southern Uí Néill from the 8th century to the early 11th century, and which supplied many kings of Tara. Colmán Bec was regarded as the ancestor of the much less important dynasty of Clann Cholmáin Bic, later Caille Follamain, through a son Óengus.