Diarmait mac Cerbaill

There were two significant designations for kings in Ireland. Of the several different kingdoms on the Emerald Isle, only one of them had possession of the sacred site the Hilo Tara, on which stood the Lia Fáil, the "Stone of Destiny," brought to Ireland by the Tuatha dé Danann, that would cry out when the true king stepped on it. Whether the Stone ever was heard to cry out is moot: possessing the Hill let you declare yourself King of Tara after engaging in a sacred pagan initiation rite.

The other designation was High King of Ireland, or King of All Ireland. This designation was not rooted in Irish mythology: it denoted someone powerful enough that other kingdoms recognized his political and military superiority. There was no spiritual or religious aspect to this title.

Diarmait Mac Cerbaill was the last known king in Ireland to go through the pagan ritual of marriage to the goddess of the land, and so was King of Tara. Annals declare him a great-grandson of the semi-historical Niall of the Nine Hostages. His father's name was Fergus, but rather than be named "Ferguson," his surname is given as Cerbaill from his father's nickname Cerrbél, "crooked mouth."

During his lifetime, he was also declared High King of Ireland, from 544 to 565. His reign was not stellar. In a dispute between St. Columba and Finnian of Movilla, he took the wrong side and was defeated at the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne, the famous "Battle of the Books" over the copyright of the Cathach. It was not the only battle he lost.

Despite his initiation as King of Tara, and references to "druid fences" being used during the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne, he was the first High King in Ireland to embrace (or at least dabble in) Christianity. Adomnán of Iona wrote that Diarmait was "ordained by God's will as king of all Ireland." Adomnán was writing 150 years later, but it is not the only evidence that Diarmait might have begun forging a healthy relationship with Christianity. He supported St. Finnian of Movilla. The stone pictured above is believed to be Diarmait and St. Ciaran, carved into the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, planting a stake together. There is a quotation attributed to him that suggests respect for the power of Christianity: "Woe to him that contends with the clergy of the churches." Also, curiously, two of his sons are called Colmán, a specifically Christian name based on the 6th century Irish missionary, St. Columbanus. (Irish royals were known to give the same name to more than one son—relying on nicknames later to distinguish them?—until the 16th century.)

The end of his life, however, was decidedly non-Christian; rather, it involves a mythical "threefold death" based in prophecy that seems impossible at first but comes true in a logical manner. It's complicated enough that I think I'll save it until tomorrow. See you then.

Battle of Cúl Dreimhne

The Battle of Cúl Dreimhne likely took place in 560CE (estimates vary). Although there are different accounts of the reason for the battle, the most popular is that it was fought over a copy of the Cathach ("The Battler").

The Cathach is a psalter, a collection of the Psalms from the Bible. The original was at Movilla Abbey, in the possession of Saint Finnian of Movilla. A visiting Columba made a copy of it miraculously in a single night, in order to have his own, but Finnian objected to this.

The question arose: was the copy owned by Finnian because he possessed the original, or by Columba because he made it? The High King of Ireland, King Diarmait Mac Cerbaill, famously proclaimed "To every cow belongs her calf, therefore to every book belongs its copy." Then (according to this version of the story), Columba raised an army to fight for his right to keep the copy. It is far likelier that the battle was a dynastic conflict because of the way Diarmait had assumed the kingship after his predecessor's death.

Another theory for the start of the battle is the violation of the rules of sanctuary when a man under Columba's protection was forcibly taken and executed, whereupon Columba raised an army against Diarmait. Columba was exiled for his actions and required to create as many souls for Christ as had been killed in the battle (3000). There is no evidence that his missionary work after that time was the result of exile rather than a desire to spread Christianity.

But as to the battle itself: it was in northwest Ireland in what is now County Sligo. You can visit the site of the "Cooldrumman Battlefield" at the foot of Ben Bulben. Modern scholars point out that the earliest references to the battle do not mention a book at all.

Was the Cathach so important that a battle could arise over it losing its uniqueness and its place on Movilla Abbey. To answer that, we need to take a closer look at the Cathach itself, and that's what we'll do next.