Cerball mac Dúnlainge

Cerball mac Dúnlainge
King of Osraige
Cerball's cross slab grave at Saighir
Reign	842–888
Predecessor	Dúngal mac Fergaile
Successor	Riagan mac Dúnlainge
Died	888 AD
Burial	Saighir, Co. Offaly
Consort	Maelfelbha, daughter of high king Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid
Issue	Diarmait Cellach Bráenán Rafarta Gormlaith Dunghal Eithne Cuilde Mór Fridgerd
House	Dál Birn
Father	Dúngal mac Fergaile

Cerball mac Dúnlainge (patronymic sometimes spelled Dúngaile)(died 888) Middle Irish pronunciation: [ˈkərval mak ˈðūnləŋe]) was king of Ossory in south-east Ireland. The kingdom of Ossory (Osraige) occupied roughly the area of modern County Kilkenny and lay between the larger provincial kingdoms of Munster and Leinster.

Cerball came to prominence after the death of Fedelmid mac Crimthainn, King of Munster, in 847. Ossory had been subject for a period to the Eóganachta kings of Munster, but Feidlimid was succeeded by a series of weak kings who had to contend with Viking incursions on the coasts of Munster. As a result, Cerball was in a strong position and is said to have been the second most powerful king in Ireland in his later years. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his brother Riagan mac Dúnlainge.

Kjarvalr Írakonungr, a figure in the Norse sagas who appears as an ancestor of many prominent Icelandic families, is identified with Cerball.

A large body of contemporary and near-contemporary material on early medieval Ireland has survived. From the titles of works mentioned in these sources, it is clear that a great deal of additional material has now been lost. The surviving materials usually exist in the form of much later copies, and it is only from comparison of the various texts that the original documents can be reconstructed.

The Irish annals which document the ninth century are ultimately derived from the now-lost Chronicle of Ireland which was then being compiled in the midlands of Ireland. All annals include material derived from other sources, or added at a later date. None are complete, although the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Inisfallen cover Cerball's lifetime. The Annals of Clonmacnoise survive only in an eccentric 17th-century English translation, and the Annals of Tigernach for this period are lost, although Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's abbreviated copy known as the Chronicon Scotorum supplies much of the missing material. The Annals of the Four Masters are late, and include some material of doubtful origin. While the annals provide a considerable amount of information, they are generally terse, and most focus their attention on the doings of the Uí Néill, sometimes to the extent of omitting inconvenient events.