Cellach Cualann

Who was Cellach Cualann?

Cellach Cualann mac Gerthidi was the last Uí Máil king of Leinster. Cellach's byname is derived from the land of Cualu which lay around Glendalough.

The name Uí Máil may mean "grandsons of the princes". This, along with their ownership of certain objects symbolic of the kingship of Leinster, has suggested that they may once have been considered the rightful rulers of Leinster, at least by themselves. Alternatively, Uí Máil may have derived their name from the Glen of Imaal, in the west of modern County Wicklow, which lay in the centre of their historic lands.

Cellach's father was not king of Leinster, but his second cousin Fiannamail mac Máele Tuile was. Cellach succeeded his cousin as king of Uí Máil when Fiannamail was murdered by a servant named Fochsechán, probably on the orders of Fínsnechta Fledach. The kingship of Leinster passed to the Uí Dúnlainge in the person of Bran Mut mac Conaill who died in 693, to be followed as king by Cellach.