Toirdelbach Ua Briain - Death

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.