In 1011, Flaithbertach Ua Néill, king of Ailech and leader of the Cenél nEógain branch of the Northern Uí Néill, captured Dún Echdach (identified as Duneight, south of Lisburn) from the kingdom of Ulster. This action formed part of his sustained and aggressive campaigning against his neighbours, which had already included raids on Leth Cathail in 1005 and 1007 and the blinding and killing of a king of Cenél Conaill in 1009. Despite having given his submission to the High King Brian Bóruma on multiple occasions and having accompanied Brian's sons Domnall and Murchad on an invasion of Cenél Conaill earlier in 1011, Flaithbertach had, in the words of the source, returned to his old ways.
Following the capture of Dún Echdach, Flaithbertach received the submission of the Ulster over-king Niall mac Duib Tuinne, a significant political outcome that demonstrated his dominance over the eastern kingdom at that moment. His aggression did not cease there; he attacked Ulster and Cenél Conaill again in 1012. The capture of Dún Echdach therefore stands as one episode in a broader pattern of Flaithbertach's attempts to extend Cenél nEógain power over the neighbouring kingdoms, conducted in defiance of the authority Brian Bóruma had repeatedly sought to impose upon him.
According to the source, having accompanied Brian Bóruma's sons on an invasion of Cenél Conaill as Brian's ally earlier in the same year, Flaithbertach nonetheless reverted to independent aggression against Ulster, capturing Dún Echdach and compelling the Ulster over-king Niall mac Duib Tuinne to submit to him, illustrating how difficult Brian found it to restrain his northern vassal even at the height of his power.
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