Áed Sláine

Áed mac Diarmato (died 604), called Áed Sláine (Áed of Slane), was the son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Legendary stories exist of Áed's birth. Saint Columba is said to have prophesied his death. His descendants, the Síl nÁedo Sláine—the seed of Áed of Slane—were prominent in 7th and early 8th century Ireland.

Áed's mother is said to have been Mugain Mór, perhaps an euhemerisation of a Munster sovereignty goddess. This Mugain is called the daughter of Conchrad mac Duach, the king of Osraige. Mugain and Diarmait's marriage is barren, and Mugain is humiliated by Diarmait's chief wife until she is given blessed holy water to drink by Saint Finnian of Moville, after which she gives birth to a lamb, then to a salmon, and finally to Áed.

Finnian prophesied that Áed would "surpass his brethren and more kings will come from him than from the sons of others". This prophecy may date to the period before 750, when the Síl nÁedo Sláine were dominant, after which the descendants of Áed's brother Colmán Már—Clann Cholmáin—were clearly the most important group descended from Diarmait mac Cerbaill. A third brother of Áed, Colmán Bec, was also an ancestor figure, but of the less important Caílle Follamain. The many legends surrounding his father name other brothers of Áed, but their historical existence is uncertain.

Áed and his kin were considered by later genealogies and histories to be members of the southern branch of the Uí Néill kindred, but this may be a later addition to include the descendants of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, supposed to be great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, among the ranks of the dominant Uí Néill. The other branches of the Uí Néill, the great Cenél Conaill and the Cenél nEógain, and the lesser Cenél Lóegairi, Cenél Maine, Cenél nÉndai, Cenél Coirpri and Cenél Fiachach, traced their ancestry rather to sons of Niall.

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