however, by the time of his son's birth muirchertach was subordinate to the new kings of leinster, the uí ceinnselaig. the king from 1126 was diarmait mac murchada (dermot macmurrough). at the age of 10, lorcán was sent to diarmait as a hostage for his father. however at one point muirchertach's loyalty to diarmait must have become suspect as lorcán was imprisoned for some two years in extreme austerity and barely given enough to live on. due to the intercession of the abbot of glendalough – members of lorcán's family had been buried at one of its churches for generations – relations were amicably restored between diarmait and muirchertach.