Born: Unknown, Ireland
Died: 795
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: NA
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Eithne (d. 795), daughter of Donnchad Midi and queen-consort of Leinster, belonged to the Clann Cholmáin dynasty of the Southern Uí Néill. Her marriage to Bran Ardchenn (qv), an early representative of the Uí Muiredaig lineage of Uí Dúnlainge, who became overking of Leinster (785) on the death of his cousin, was clearly a political strategy on the part of her father, Donnchad Midi (qv) king of Tara. It seems reasonable to assume that Eithne was a key factor in her husband’s succession to the overkingship in the first instance, as Donnchad sought to dominate Leinster through a compliant protégé. Certainly her father came to the assistance of his son-in-law in 794, helping to defeat Munster enemies.
Eithne, as a representative of Clann Cholmáin interests in Leinster, may have drawn resentment from other factions within the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. In 795 she shared the fate of her husband, being killed at Cell Chúile Dumai (Coole, Co. Laois) by a dynast of the Uí Dúnchada lineage, Fínshnechtae Cetharderc (qv). The annals date the murder precisely to the night of Wednesday 6 May. The Leinster king-list adds that Eithne and her husband were burned to death. Bran left two sons, Cellach and Muiredach, but it is not clear whether Eithne was their mother.