Uí Briúin Séola: Murchád Ua In Capaill

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One of the somewhat mysterious people in the Irish annals is Murchád Ua In Capaill. Dr. Bart Jaski placed him in the genealogies as follows, using the Annals Of Innisfallen:

AI1036.4

Murchad, son of Muiredach Ua Flaithbertaig, dies.

https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100004.html#p203

However, other sources are not so straighforward. They reference him as Murchád úa in capaill. At first glance in capaill appears to be an epithet, similar to In Eich Gil. The primary eDIL definiton for capall is "draft or work horse":



However, eDIL also provides an alternative, somewhat questionable, definition of "foundation or basis":



Here are the entries for Murchád Ua In Capaill from the CELT versions of the Annals Of Tigernach (AT), the Annals Of Ulster (AU), and the Annals Of The Four Masters (AFM):

AT1036.6	Muircheartach Ó Flaithbheartaigh and Niall son of Muirghius, two crown princes of the west of Connacht, were killed.	https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100002A.html#p376
AU1036.1	All these were killed: Domnall ua hUathmaráin, king of Fir Lí — by the Dál Araide; Scolóc ua Flannacáin, king of Tethba — by his own people; Domnall ua Flainn, heir designate of Temair — by the men of Bréifne; Murchad grandson of In Capall, and Niall son of Muirgius, two heirs designate of the west of Connacht.	https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100001A.html#p475
AMF1036.9	Murchadh Ua an Chapail, i. e. Ua Flaithbheartaigh, and Niall, son of Muirgheas, two royal heirs of West Connaught, were slain.	https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100005B.html#p833

In this case, the alternative translation of capall works very well. Rather than "Murchád grandson of the draft horse", which leads one to assume it is an epithet, again, like In Eich Gil, it becomes "Murchád grandson of the founder", with AFM adding the gloss "that is, grandson of Flaithbertach" to explain which founder. This makes excellent sense in context. Further, it makes Murchád the brother of Muiredach Már; which again, with roughly the same death dates also makes excellent sense, both being slain to make room for a change in leadership, it would appear. The concurrent death of Niall macc Muirgiusa would tend to support that in that the leadership possibly would not revert to the Cland Coscraig either. It makes one wonder if Ruaidrí Glas of Loch Cime was impatiently ambitious.

As an aside, it is interesting that glas can have the meaning "fetter" (among many others) while Cime can derive from cimmid which means "captive or prisoner". Probably just a coincidence since apparently when applied as an epithet, glas means wan of complexion, e.g., Goidel Glas.

Regardless, the Chronicon Scotorum (CS) and the AFM have these additional entries:

CS1030.12	Maelodor the blind ua an Capaill, lector, rested.	https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100016.html#p229
AFM1030.6	Maelodhar Dall, lector of Cill-achaidh, died.	https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100005B.html#p819

That same phrase of úa in capaill appears in the Chronicon Scotorum, and it does not appear to be an epithet. Máel Odar's epither is Dall, or "The Blind". So, this appears to be a case where the principle of lectio difficilior potior is valid and úa in capaill means "grandson of the founder".

The Annals Of Tigernach has a different given name, Muirchertach, and uses a different phrasing for the identification, just úa Flaithbertaig:



The Annals Of Ulster, the Annals Of The Four Masters, and the Chronicon Scotorum all have the same given name, Murchád, and two use that peculiar phrasing of úa in capaill. This makes one think that they shared the same original source, while the Annals Of Tigernach used a different source. The Chronicon Scotorum on the one hand uses that peculiar phrase of úa in capaill in one place, but provides a different genealogy for Murchád on the other hand, so it may have used 2 different sources. It is a shame about the difference in given name, though.

Nonetheless, in conclusion, the best evidence reorganizes the genealogy as follows: