text: domnall gerrlámhach domnall gerrlámhach ( died 1135 ) , also known as domnall gerrlámhach ua briain , domnall mac , and domnall ua briain , was an obscure twelfth - century uí briain dynast and king of dublin . he was one of two sons of muirchertach ua briain , high king of ireland . domnall 's father appears to have installed him as king of dublin in the late or early twelfth century , which suggests that he was his father 's successor - designate . although domnall won a remarkable victory in the defence of the kingdom of dublin in the face of an invasion from the kingdom of leinster in 1115 , he failed to achieve the successes of his father . after his final expulsion from dublin at hands of toirdelbach ua conchobair , king of connacht , and the death of his father , domnall disappears from record until his own death in 1135 . he was perhaps survived by two sons . background domnall was one of two recorded sons of muirchertach ua briain , high king of ireland ( died 1119 ) ; the other being ( died 1129 ) . domnall was a member of the uí briain , a branch of the dál cais , descended from the eponymous brian bóruma mac cennétig , high king of ireland ( died 1014 ) . domnall 's mother was his father 's wife , forgaill , daughter of ua , king of airgíalla . the annals of tigernach accord domnall the epithet ( " short - armed " ) which may indicate — if the term is taken literally — that he suffered some sort of deformity . muirchertach ua briain was one of three sons of toirdelbach ua briain , high king of ireland ( died 1086 ) , a man who secured control of the kingdom of munster in the 1060s before gaining the high - kingship of ireland less than a decade later . in 1175 , in an act of overlordship over the kingdom of dublin , toirdelbach ua briain appointed muirchertach ua briain king of dublin , following a precedent set by diarmait mac maíl na mbó , king of leinster ( died 1072 ) , a previous claimant to the irish high - kingship who had done the same to his own eldest son , murchad ( died 1070 ) , in 1052 . when toirdelbach ua briain finally died in 1086 , his sons bitterly contested the kingship of munster before muirchertach ua briain succeeded in securing it for himself . by 1091 , the latter appears to have regained control of the dublin , only to lose it to gofraid crobán , king of the isles ( died 1095 ) , who united it with the kingdom of the isles . gofraid 's reign in ireland was short - lived , as muirchertach ua briain forced him from dublin in 1094 . after the gofraid 's death the following year , muirchertach ua briain appointed his own nephew , domnall mac taidc ( died 1115 ) , as king of the isles . uí briain influence in the isles was similarly short - lived , however , as domnall mac taidc was apparently forced from the region , and magnús óláfsson , king of norway seized control of not only the isles , but perhaps even dublin itself , before falling in battle in 1103 . later in 1111 , domnall mac taidc temporarily seized the kingship of the isles in an act that appears to have been opposed by his aforesaid uncle . the reasons for domnall mac taidc 's exit from the isles are uncertain . although he may have been forcibly ejected by the islesmen , he may well have returned to ireland to take advantage of muirchertach ua briain 's rapidly failing health . kingship of dublin in 1114 , the power of a now gravely ill muirchertach ua briain 's began to waver . the kingship of munster was temporarily seized by muirchertach ua briain 's half - brother , diarmait ua briain ( died 1118 ) . the record of a grant to christ church cathedral , in which domnall is styled " king of ireland " , appears to suggest that he attempted to assert a claim to the kingship as well . in fact , mac 's book specifically states that domnall was installed in the kingship of dublin by his father in 1114 . although muirchertach ua briain 's problems were lessened with the death domnall mac taidc in 1115 , within the year the co - kings of leinster — donnchad mac murchada ( died 1115 ) and conchobar ua conchobair , king of uí ( died 1115 ) — took advantage of his own decline , and attempted to gain control of dublin by way of a major assault upon the town . in fact , domnall 's father and grandfather had excluded the kingdom of leinster from overlordship of dublin for the last forty years ; and whilst conchobar was an unremitting opponent of muirchertach ua briain , donnchad was married to domnall mac taidc 's sister , and further possessed a claim of his own to the kingship dublin , as both his father and grandfather — the aforesaid murchad and diarmait mac maíl na mbó — had held it during their careers . the prospect of enduring overlordship from nearby leinster , as compared to the more distant and anaemic overlordship of munster , appears to have compelled the dubliners to oppose the leinstermen . the ensuing battle itself is recorded by both the annals of ulster and the annals of inisfallen , which reveal that it was domnall himself who marshalled the forces of munster to victory . considering munster 's weakened state , his triumph in dublin was remarkable achievement . unfortunately for donnchad , however , he lost his life in the encounter ; and according to the thirteenth - century giraldus cambrensis ( died 1220 × 23 ) , the dubliners added insult to injury by burying his corpse with that of a dog as a show of contempt to the leinstermen . there is uncertainty as to when domnall originally gained the kingship of dublin . his father could have installed him as such upon assuming the irish high - kingship , or perhaps following the aforesaid ousting of gofraid crobán in 1094 — although it is not impossible that domnall mac taidc was installed as king at this point instead . another possibility is that domnall had been appointed king not long before his victory over the leinstermen , or else not long afterwards . whatever the case , the evidence of domnall 's kingship indicates that muirchertach ua briain was the third consecutive claimant to the high - kingship to appoint an intended successor to the kingship of dublin . although muirchertach ua briain recovered enough to regain power in munster within the year , dublin was later lost to donnchad 's kinsman and leinster successor , diarmait mac énna meic murchada , king of leinster , who died there in 1117 . meanwhile , as muirchertach ua briain 's power continued to evaporate , the authority of toirdelbach ua conchobair , king of connacht ( died 1156 ) ever increased . in 1118 , several sources , such as the annals of loch cé , the annals of the four masters , chronicon scotorum , and the annals of tigernach , indicate that toirdelbach ua conchobair gained control of dublin . in fact , the later source specifies that he had driven domnall from the kingship once and for all , revealing that domnall had regained the kingship following diarmait mac énna 's death in 1117 . although this source also relates that hostages from the " northern half of ireland " were recovered from dublin by toirdelbach ua conchobair , a statement perhaps indicative of the power that domnall managed to preserve over northern realms once firmly under his father 's suzerainty , at his height domnall 's father had been one of the most successful uí briain monarchs , and domnall was unable to match his accomplishments . domnall 's victory in dublin marked the beginning of the end of munster domination of norse - gaelic dublin . before the frail muirchertach ua briain finally died in 1119 , he was forced to resign the kingship of munster in favour of his half - brother . when the latter died in 1118 , toirdelbach ua conchobair had the realm partitioned between tadc mac in the kingdom of desmond , and the sons of diarmait ua briain in the kingdom of thomond . domnall himself was excluded from the kingship . death thereafter domnall disappears from record until his death , as an old man at lismore , dated by the annals of the four masters to 1135 . the annal - entry itself describes him as a one - time lord of leinster , which could be evidence that he had tried to seize leinster at some point in his career . the annals of tigernach apparently also record domnall 's death , although the annal - entry identifies him as a grandson of muirchertach ua briain . long afterwards in 1157 , muirchertach mac lochlainn , king of cenél neógain ( died 1166 ) , a contender to the irish high - kingship , invaded the partitioned munster and forced the submission of diarmait mac , and further drove out toirdelbach mac diarmata uí briain — the son of domnall 's aforesaid uncle , diarmait ua briain — and replaced him with another uí briain dynast , conchobar mac domnaill uí briain , king of ormond . the latter was likely a brother of lughaid mac domnaill uí briain who was slain in the battle of in 1151 . both men — conchobar and lughaid — could well have been sons of domnall himself , although another candidate may be his like - named first cousin , domnall mac taidc . ancestry