Cerball mac Dunlainge
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About
Cerball mac Dunlainge (died 888), King of Osraige, was one of the great figures of Viking-age Ireland: for forty years he fought, allied with and out-manoeuvred the Norse, and his fame travelled with them - he appears in the Icelandic sagas as Kjarvalr Irakonungr, 'Kjarval king of the Irish', and through his daughters' Norse marriages he stands in the ancestry of many of Iceland's founding families. Here he stands in ours.
Research notes
✓ ANNAL-ATTESTED (obit 888; dominant king of Osraige from 842, extensively recorded in FA/AU): CERBALL MAC DUNLAINGE, the saga 'Kjarvalr Irakonungr' of Landnamabok fame (saga links = tradition, so noted). Father of Cellach (patronymic, our line). *** FRONTIER - OSRAIGE CEILING (8 Oct 2026): his father Dunlaing (d.842) and the Dal mBirn ascent are NOTE-ONLY, not wired - same ruling as the Ui Cheinnselaig ceiling at Cairpre d.876. ⚠ DO NOT CONFUSE his patronymic 'mac Dunlainge' with OUR Ui Dunlainge dynasty of north Leinster - different Dunlaing entirely, no connection. *** Wired 8 Oct 2026.