Domnall (d. 1098), abbot of Kells and head of the Columban familia, was son of Robartach and apparently belonged to a lineage of Cenél Conaill. His father, in all probability, was Robartach son of Ferdomnach, also head of the Columban familia, who died in 1057. Domnall became abbot of Kells and is the next recorded comarba (coarb or successor) of Colum Cille (qv) – as distinct from abbot of Iona – after the death of Gilla-Críst Ua Máel-doraid in 1062.
Abbot Domnall extended the ecclesiastical property of Kells, and granted the dísert (hermitage) of Kells ‘to God and to pious pilgrims’. He was particularly associated with the enshrinement of the relics of Colum Cille, especially the Cathach, an early psalter said to have been the work of the saint himself. According to the Annals of Tígernach (Tigernach Ua Bráein (qv)), in 1090 the anamchara (spiritual adviser) of the Columban community brought the relics from the kingdom of Cenél Conaill, along with twenty-seven ounces of silver, presumably intended for their enshrinement. Abbot Domnall commissioned the shrine of the Cathach jointly with Cathbarr Ua Domnaill, king of Cenél Lugdach, as the inscription attests. The craftwork, consisting of a wooden case faced with silver plates, was carried out by master-craftsman Sitriuc grandson of Áed. It is surely significant that the relic was kept by the Cenél Conaill airchinnech (lay-abbot) family of Mac Robartaigh of Ballymagroarty in later medieval times. The shrine is now in the National Museum of Ireland.
It seems that Abbot Domnall resigned his office before 1094, in which year Ferdomnach Ua Clucáin was abbot, according to the Kells charters. Domnall died in retirement four years later; he is styled in his obit comarbae Coluim Cille fri ré (formerly successor of Colum Cille).