Death
Toirdelbach fell seriously ill in 1085 and lost his hair. The Annals of the Four Masters, a late and not always reliable source, state that he had been ill for many years. He may never have fully recovered from his earlier illness. The Annals of Ulster report that he "died in Kincora after great suffering and long repentance, and after receiving the Body of Christ and His Blood, on in the seventy-seventh year of his age ". Rarely given to over-praising southern kings, this northern annal calls him "king of Ireland". The Annals of Tigernach, another northern record, styles Toirdelbach rí urmóir Erenn, "king of the greater part of Ireland".
Toirdelbach was probably married three times. Dubchoblaig of the Uí Cheinnselaig, who died in 1088, was the mother of Diarmait, perhaps named for her kinsman and Toirdelbach's protector Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó. Derbforgaill of Osraige was the mother of Tadc and Muirchertach. No children of Gormlaith of Ua Fógarta are named and the mother of Toirdelbach's daughter Mór is not recorded.
Mór married Ruaidrí na Saide Buide. Her son Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair was one of the greatest kings of medieval Ireland. She died in 1088, perhaps coincidently the year in which a gloss to the Annals of Ulster records Toirdelbach's birth. Toirdelbach apparently planned to divide his lands between his three sons. Tadc survived him by only weeks, dying of natural causes at Kincora, after which Muirchertach and Diarmait disputed the succession. Diarmait was the loser, banished by his half-brother, and exiled with his mother's kin in Leinster.
Read more about this topic: Toirdelbach Ua Briain
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Sin their conception, their birth weeping,
Their life a general mist of error,
Their death a hideous storm of terror.”
—John Webster (c. 1580–1638)
“So he with difficulty and labour hard
Moved on, with difficulty and labour he;
But he once passed, soon after when man fell,
Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain
Following his track, such was the will of Heaven,
Paved after him a broad and beaten way
Over the dark abyss, whose boiling gulf
Tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length
From hell continued reaching th’ utmost orb
Of this frail world;”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is, knows how deep a debt of gratitude we owe to Adam, the first great benefactor of our race. He brought death into the world.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)