Ascall mac Ragnaill

Ascall mac Ragnaill
King of Dublin
Ascall's name as it appears on folio 46v of British Library Royal 13 B VIII (Expugnatio Hibernica): "Hasculphus".[1]
Reign	1160–1170
Predecessor	Brodar mac Torcaill
Born	1124
Died	16 May 1171 Dublin
House	Meic Torcaill
Father	Ragnall mac Torcaill

Ascall mac Ragnaill meic Torcaill (died 16 May 1171), also known as Ascall Mac Torcaill,^{[note 1]} was the last Norse-Gaelic king of Dublin. He was a member of the Meic Torcaill, a Dublin family of significance since the early twelfth century.

Control of the wealthy coastal kingdom was bitterly contested during Ascall's floruit, with members of his immediate family, as well as Islesmen and Irishmen, all securing power for brief periods of time. Throughout much of this period, however, the overlord of Dublin was Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster. In 1166, after the death of his close ally Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, High King of Ireland, Mac Murchada was beset by his enemies. At this critical point of his reign, Mac Murchada lost the support of the Dubliners, which contributed to his expulsion from Ireland that year. Not long afterwards, however, he made his return with significant military assistance from mercenary English adventurers. In the latter half of 1170, Dublin itself fell to the combined forces of Mac Murchada and the powerful English magnate Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke.

With the collapse of the Norse-Gaelic kingdom, Ascall and the Dublin elite were forced to flee into what one source calls the "northern islands", a reference to either the Kingdom of the Isles or the Earldom of Orkney. About a year later, not long after Mac Murchada's death, Ascall attempted to regain his patrimony from the English. Unfortunately for himself, his invasion of Dublin ended in utter failure, and he was executed by the English governor of the town. Immediately following his fall, Dublin was besieged by a combined force of Irishmen and Islesmen. The town, however, remained firmly in the hands of the English; and before the end of the year, Dublin passed into the direct control of Henry II, King of England, who converted it into an English royal town.

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