Conchobar mac Tadg

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Conchobar mac Tadg was King of Connacht from 967 to 973 and the eponym of the Ua Conchobair (O'Connor) dynasty. He was the son of Tadc in Túir (the Tower). When his father died in 956, Conchobar’s group faced opposition from Fergal ua Ruairc of Bréifne. He benefited from strong marriage ties with major Uí Néill dynasties: his sister Bébinn married the king of Brega, Domnall, and another sister, Muirgel, married into Cenél Conaill. Domnall son of Congalach, his brother-in-law, killed Fergal in 966, clearing the way for Conchobar to become overking of Connacht. But his reign was troubled. In 967 one of his sons died while supporting Muirgel’s husband’s kin against Cenél nÉogain. Bréifne continued to try to regain the kingship, and Conchobar defeated Ualgarc ua Ruairc.

The Book of Leinster says he died of colic, and that his successor Cathal was killed after reigning only three days at the battle of Céis Chorainn, by Murchad Glun re Lar mac Flaithbertaigh of Cenél nÉogain. After his death, the provincial kingship remained weak for about twenty years, with several dynasties ruling parts of Connacht. Yet through his son Cathal, Conchobar became the ancestor of the royal line of Ua Conchobair (O’Connor), which supplied most later kings of Connacht. His great-grandchildren were the first to be known as Ua Conchobair, and his senior male descendant is The Ó Conchubhair Donn. He had a brother, Máel Ruanaid Mór mac Tadg, who was the ancestor of the Kings of Moylurg and of the Ua Maolruanaid (Mulrooney) and MacDiarmata (MacDermot) families.