Áed Allán

Who was Áed Allán?

Áed Allán was an 8th-century Irish king of Ailech and High King of Ireland. Áed Allán was the son of Fergal mac Máele Dúin and a member of the Cenél nEógain, a branch of the Northern Uí Néill.

Fergal was killed, along with many others, at the battle of Almain, in 722, fought against Murchad mac Brain of the Uí Dúnlainge, the king of Leinster. The king of the Northern Uí Néill at this time was Flaithbertach mac Loingsig of the Cenél Conaill. Áed Allán faced Flaithbertach in battle at Mag Itha in 734, and was defeated. Nonetheless, Flaithbertach abdicated or was deposed shortly after and joined the monastery at Ard Macha.

The chief requirement of a would-be High King was success in battle, and Áed Allán faced the Ulaid, under Áed Róin of the Dál Fiatach at Faughart. The kings of the Ulaid controlled most of eastern Ulster while the Cenél nEógain heartland lay in the later County Tyrone. Áed Allán defeated the Ulaid, killing Áed Róin and the king of the Uí Echach Cobo, so gaining control of Conailli Muirthemne.

In 737, Áed Allán met with the Eóganachta king Cathal mac Finguine at Terryglass, probably neutral ground outwith the control of either king. Byrne says that it is unlikely that Cathal, king of Munster, acknowledged Áed Allán's authority — the Uí Néill had little enough influence in the south — but if Cathal had expected some benefit from the meeting, where he perhaps acknowledged the ecclesiastical supremacy of Armagh, he was to be disappointed. However, the clerics of Armagh may have been well satisfied as the Annals of Ulster, in the entry following that which reports the meeting of Áed Allán and Cathal, say that the law of Patrick was in force in Ireland. The presumably means that Áed Allán and Cathal agreed to the special treatment of the church, its lands and its tenants, as prescribed by the law of Patrick.