page_title: Domnall mac Taidc
section_title: Norwegian ascendancy in Dublin and the Isles
hierarchical_section_title: Domnall mac Taidc / Norwegian ascendancy in Dublin and the Isles
caption_attribution_description: English: Nineteenth-century depiction of the forces of Magnus Barefoot in Ireland. The illustration appears on page 544 of: Storm, G, ed. (1899). Norges Kongesagaer. Vol. 2, Heimskringla II. Oslo: I.M. Stenersens Forlag. The caption reads: "Da Sol randt op, gik Magnus og hans Mænd lland".
context_page_description: Domnall mac Taidc was the ruler of the Kingdom of the Isles, the Kingdom of Thomond, and perhaps the Kingdom of Dublin as well. His father was Tadc, son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster, which meant that Domnall was a member of the Meic Taidc, a branch of the Uí Briain. Domnall's mother was Mór, daughter of Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles, which may have given Domnall a stake to the kingship of the Isles.
  In 1094, Domnall's uncle, Muirchertach Ua Briain, High King of Ireland, drove Gofraid Crobán, King of Dublin and the Isles from Dublin, and may have replaced him with Domnall himself. Certainly at some point following Gofraid's death in 1095, Muirchertach installed Domnall as King of the Isles. The latter's reign was short-lived however, and Domnall appears to have been forced from the Isles prior to its subsequent conquest by the King of Norway.
  In 1111, Domnall evidently seized the kingship of the Isles by force. It is uncertain whether he enjoyed Uí Briain support in this venture. Several years later, at a time when his aforesaid uncle was gravely ill, Domnall was again active in Ireland.
context_section_description: The extent of Domnall's rule in the kingdom is unknown, and it is questionable whether he had any real authority in the northern Hebrides, furthest from Mann. In about 1097, Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway sent a delegate named Ingimundr into the Isles to take possession of the kingdom. After installing himself on Lewis, Ingimundr was overthrown and killed whilst attempting to usurp the kingship. Ingimundr's rationale for seating himself upon an island on the edge of the kingdom may have been due to the fact that he was unable to gain any authority on Mann itself. In fact, the chronicle reveals that civil war erupted there the following year, and the chronicler Orderic Vitalis indicates that Mann was devastated to point of being a virtual desert by the time Magnús appeared on the scene. The warring itself may have been related to the aforesaid factional struggles between Gofraid's sons. Although it is possible that it was Magnús who actually forced Domnall from the Isles, the fact the chronicle makes no mention of Domnall during the recorded conflict on Mann may be evidence that he had lost control of the island by then.
  Within the year, Magnús himself arrived in the Isles, captured Lagmann, and conquered the kingdom. After overwintering in region, the Norwegian king left for Scandinavia in the summer, only to make his return nearly four years later, in 1102 or 1103. Once re-established on Mann, Magnús may well have seized control of Dublin before entering into an alliance with Muirchertach, formalised through the marriage between Magnús's young son, Sigurðr, and Muirchertach's daughter, Bjaðmunjo. The arrangement seems to reveal that Magnús intended for Sigurðr to rule over his recently-won territories. Although it may have also meant that Norwegian sovereignty in the Isles was recognised by the Irish, it is also possible that Muirchertach intended to exert his own influence into the region through his new son-in-law. Unfortunately for Muirchertach, and his long-term ambitions in Ireland and the Isles, Magnús was slain in Ulster in 1103, whereupon Sigurðr immediately repudiated his bride and returned to Norway. Although Muirchertach was able to regain control of Dublin, and still held considerable influence in the Isles, Magnús' death appears to have left a power vacuum in the region that he was unable to fill.
caption: Nineteenth-century depiction of Magnús Óláfsson's forces in Ireland.[37]
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