had been captive among the Danes. He then again marched into Munster and sacked the rebuilt Cenncoradh, near Killaloe. In 1119 he again invaded Munster, and lived upon the district round Killaloe. He had made alliances with the king of Leinster, with the Danes of Dublin, and with the king of Ossory, and in 1120 was strong enough to invade Meath, drive Murchadh O'Maeleachlainn into the north, obtain the sanction of the archbishop of Armagh, assume the style of Rí Eireann, king of Ireland, and celebrate the Aonach, or open-air assembly and games of Taillten. He built bridges, probably of wattles, across the Shannon at Shannon harbour and Athlone, and across the Suck at Dunlo. In 1121 he marched into Munster as far as Tralee, co. Kerry, and on his way back, taking many cattle, visited Lismore, co. Waterford. At Dunboyne, co. Meath, in 1122 he took hostages from the king of Leinster in acknowledgment of his kingship over Ireland. A fresh foray into South Munster towards Youghal occupied him in 1123. He put a fleet of boats on the Shannon in 1124, plundered its shores as far as Foynes, co. Limerick, and kept an armed camp for six months at Woodford, co. Galway, close to the Munster boundary, thus preventing any raid into Connaught.
He also attacked his old enemies the Conmhaicne in Longford. They had some success against him in the Carn mountains, but he made a fresh attack, and defeated them with great slaughter. In this year, probably for some breach of treaty, he put to death the hostages he had received from Desmond or South Munster. Meantime Murchadh O'Maeleachlainn had returned from the north into Meath, and in 1125 O'Connor drove him out again, and divided the kingdom into three parts, under three separate chiefs. In 1126 he made his own son Conchobhar king of Dublin and of Leinster, defeated Cormac MacCarthy in Munster, and plundered as far as Glanmire, co. Cork. Next year he marched as far as Cork, divided Munster into three parts, and carried off thirty hostages. He had 190 vessels on Lough Derg, and ravaged the contiguous parts of Munster. In 1128 he sailed round the coast of Leinster to Dublin. Ceallach, the archbishop of Armagh, then made peace for a year between him and Munster. He made a foray into Fermanagh, but lost many men. The summer of 1129 was very dry, and he took advantage of the extreme low water of the Shannon to build a castle and bridge at Athlone. In 1130 he sailed to Tory Island, and carried off what booty there was from the desolate promontory of Rosguill, on the east side of Sheep Haven. He then sailed south and plundered Valentia and Inis-mor, near Cork. After an attack on Ui Conaill Gabhra, co. Limerick, he was himself attacked by the northerns under Domhnall O'Lochlainn [see O'Lochlainn, Domhnall], and fought a drawn battle with great loss in the Curlew mountains. Peace was made the next day at Loch Cé, co. Roscommon, for a year. Several of his feudatory chiefs were routed during 1131 and 1132 by the men of Meath and others of his enemies. There were also several invasions of Connaught in 1133, and O'Connor had to make peace for a year with Munster. A cattle plague diminished his resources in this year, and he made no expedition in 1134.
In 1135 he had many misfortunes; the Conmaicne burnt Roscommon and ravaged all the country round. He had to give hostages to Murchadh O'Maeleachlainn, and thus ceased to be chief king of Ireland. He had to deal with revolts at home in 1136, and had the eyes of his son Aedh put out. He blinded Uada O'Conceanainn in 1137, and was defeated in the same year on Lough Rea, where Murchadh O'Maeleachlainn destroyed his fleet, and then wasted all Connaught from Slieveaughty, on the borders of Munster, to the river Drowse, which separates Connaught from Ulster. He tried in 1138, with the aid of the men of Breifne and of the Oirghialla, to defeat Murchadh O'Mealeachlainn in Meath, but had to retreat without fighting a battle, and stayed in his own country throughout 1139. St. Gelasius visited Connaught in 1140, received tribute as primate of all Ireland, and blessed the king and his chiefs. O'Connor made a wicker bridge across the Shannon at Lanesborough, and established a camp on the east bank, which was burnt by Murchadh O'Mealeachlainn, after which peace was made. O'Connor made short raids into Teffia, the country east of Athlone, but was driven back by its clans with much loss.
In 1141 O'Connor had again got together a large force, and made Murchadh give him hostages, so that he again became king of all Ireland. He plundered the country near the hill of Croghan in the King's County, and next year invaded Munster, but was driven back. He captured by a ruse his old enemy Murchadh O'Maeleachlainn in 1143, but had to release him, though he gave his territory to O'Connor's son, Conchobhar, who was killed by O'Dubhlaich, a Meath chieftain, in 1144, whereupon O'Connor divided Meath into two parts, and gave each a chief. He received four hundred cows from the men of Meath as eric for his son. He
