Cían mac Máelmuaid was a son of Máel Muad mac Brain, who was twice King of Munster. Cían's father had been killed by Brian Boru at the Battle of Belach Lechta. He was a member of Uí Echach Muman or Eóganacht Raithlind, and an "ancestor of the family of O'Mahony".
Cían became a close ally of Brian, and reputedly married his daughter Sadb, according to later traditions and the antiquarian John O'Mahony. Several sources suggest that Cian lived at Enniskean in County Cork, and that the village derives its name from him.
He had a son, Mathghamhain mac Cian who died at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Further reading
- O'Mahony, John (1906–1910), "A History of the O'Mahony septs of Kinelmeky and Ivagha", Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volumes 12–16, Second Series
- Todd, James Henthorn, ed. (1867), Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh: The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, London: Longmans
- Seán Mac Airt, ed. (1944). The Annals of Inisfallen (MS. Rawlinson B. 503). Translated by Mac Airt. Dublin: DIAS. Edition and translation available from CELT.
References
- O'Donovan, John, ed. (1856), Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, vol. II (2nd ed.), Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, p. 772 Volume II
- Green, Alice Stopford (1925). History of the Irish State to 1014. London: Macmillan. pp. 368, 404.
- ^ O'Mahony, J. (1908). "A history of the O'Mahony septs of Kinelmeky and Ivagha" (PDF). Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. 2. 14 (79): 134.
- ^ "The Twin Villages of Ballineen and Enniskean". ballineenandenniskean.weebly.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- O'Mahony, Jeremiah (1961). West Cork and Its Story. Kerryman. p. 80.
One of Cian's residences was at Deargrath (red fort), which gave its name to the townland on which was built the village of Enniskean, called after Cian himself