King Of Dál Riata Áedán mac Gabráin
Aedan of Dalriada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Aedan mac Gabhran was a king of the Dalriada Scots. He reigned from about 574 to 606 or 608 and was allegedly over 70 at his death. He was the son of Gabhran, king of Dalriada, and became king after the death of his kinsman, King Conall, when he was crowned at Iona by Saint Columba. He refused to allow his kingdom to remain dependent on the Irish Dalriada, but coming into collision with his southern neighbours he led a large force against Æthelfrith, king of the Northumbrians, and was defeated at a place called Daegsanstane, probably in Liddesdale.
Consecrated by his cousin, St. Columba.
Áedán mac Gabráin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (revised)Áedán mac Gabráin was king of Dál Riata from c. 574 to his death, c. 609, when he was said to be over 70.
The sources for Áedán's life include Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; Irish annals, principally the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Tigernach; and Adomnán of Iona's Life of Saint Columba. Áedán also appears as a character in the early Irish poems Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin and Compert Mongán.
Background
The historical Áedán was a son of Gabrán mac Domangairt (died c. 555?560), and had at least one brother, Eógan, who died c. 593. The Senchus fer n-Alban lists five sons of Gabr��n: Cuildach, Domnall and Domangart, as well as Áedán and Eógan.However, in the Rawlinson B 502 manuscript, dated to c. 1130, is the poem Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin (The Birth of Brandub son of Eochu and of Aedán son of Gabrán). This tells how Áedán was a son of Echu mac Muiredaig mac Óengusa of the Uí Cheinnselaig of Laigin, and thus the twin brother of Brandub mac Echach (died c. 605?608). Áedán was exchanged at birth for one of the twin daughters of Gabrán, born the very same night, so that each family might have a son. Whether the tale is entirely fabricated, or whether it echoes a foster-relationship between Áedán and Brandub, can only be conjectured.
Áedán became king after the death of his cousin, Conall mac Comgaill c. 572?574. Adomnán's Life of Saint Columba recounts that the Saint had a vision of an angel on three successive nights: the angel commanded Columba to ordain ��edán as king rather than Eógan his brother. If accurate, this is one of the first ordinations known, although Gildas refers to the anointing of kings in De excidio.
Reign
A convention of many Irish kings was convoked at Druim Cett (probably near Limavady). Among the matters settled there was an agreement fostered by Columba between Áedán and Áed mac Ainmuirech of the Cenél Conaill, a branch of the northern Uí Néill to which Columba himself belonged, possibly in 575. This settled the relationship of Dál Riata and the Uí Néill high kings. The apparent purpose of the alliance between the Cenél Conaill and the Dál Riata was to contain the ambitious king of Ulaid, Báetán mac Cairill.In the first year of Áedán's rule, the Irish annals record a battle at Teloch or Delgenn (the location is unknown) in Kintyre. The annalist records the death of Conall's son Dúnchad "and many others of the followers of Gabrán's sons". Their opponent is not recorded, but if not a civil war fought over the succession, then it may be that this represented an effort by Báetán mac Cairill to extend his control over Dál Riata. The reporting of the battle of Teloch suggests a Dál Riatan defeat, as does the expedition by the Ulaid to the Isle of Man the following year. The Ulaid did not remain long in control of Man, as they retired the following year.
In 580, according to the Annals of Ulster, Áedán undertook an expedition to Orkney. This may have been followed by a second the following year. Orkney had been under the authority of the Pictish king Bridei mac Maelchon (died c. 581?584), but it may not have been under the control of his successor Gartnait.[10] At the same time, Áedán's ally Áed mac Ainmuirech won the battle of Druim Meic Erce over the Cenél nEógan. As well as Orkney, it has been suggested that Áedán also campagned in the Isle of Man in the early 580s, although the evidence for this is slim. It is more likely that Áedán campaigned against the Britons of Gododdin at this time. The annals report that Áedán won the battle of Lethreid, but against whom, and where this was, are unknown.
The Gein Brandub says that Áedán tried to impose himself as High King of Ireland, supposedly as as a great-grandson of legendary king Conaire Már mac Eterscélae, but if Conaire Már existed it must have been far distant from Áedán's time and he cannot have been a great-grandson of Conaire. The Compert Mongán begins with the statement
Fiachnae Lurgan [mac Báetáin], the father of Mongán, was sole king of the province [of Ulster]. He had a friend in Scotland, to wit, Áedán, the son of Gabrán.
There is no evidence of an alliance between Fiachnae and Áedán other than the tale of Mongán, but the claim that Fiachnae fought with Áedán against Æthelfrith and the Bernicians is more credible than the tale of the High Kingship in the Gein Brandub.
The matter of how many sons Áedán had, and what they were called, is unclear. The Senchus says that he had seven sons, naming them as Eochaid Buide and Eochaid Find, Tuathal, Bran, Baithéne, Conaing and Gartnait. This list is doubtful as it contradicts sources closer to the time and contains improbable names. Adomnán, in the Life of Saint Columba, states that Áedán had three grown sons: Artuir, Eochaid Find and Domangart, and asked Columba which of these would succeed him. He reports that Columba prophesied that all three would be killed before Áedán and that Eochaid Buide, then only a child, would succeed him.
The death of Áedán's sons Bran and Domangart is recorded for 596. The Annals of Tigernach record additional details, including that there was a battle in Circinn - in Pictland - so it may be assumed that the battle was fought against the Picts. Tigernach also recorded, or some later copyist added, the death of four of Áedán's sons in this year: Bran, Domangart, Eochaid Fínd and Artuir.
Earlier victories turned to defeat when Áedán led a large force ("an immense and mighty army", as Bede calls it) against Æthelfrith of Bernicia, who had been successfully expanding his territory at the expense of the British. Áedán was decisively defeated at the battle of Degsastan, perhaps in Liddesdale c. 600?603 (Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say 603). According to Bede, most of Áedán's army was slain by Æthelfrith's smaller force, and Áedán himself fled; after this defeat, Bede reports, the Dalriadan kings would not make war against the English again, right up to Bede's own time, 130 years later. The Bernician exile Hering son of Hussa and the Cenél nEógan prince Máel Umai mac Báetáin fought on Áedán's side at the battle, and Máel Umai is said to have slain "Eanfrith brother of Æthelfrith".
It should be said that the war between Áedán and Æthelfrith, as with the wars between Áedán and Picts, and with his fellow Gaels, were not life and death struggles between one "race" and another. The presence of Hering with Áedán's army makes that plain. War was the normal state of affairs, and if not Æthelfrith, then Áedán would have fought another of his neighbours. Indeed, on Æthelfrith's death his sons would find refuge at the court of Áedán's son Eochaid Buide, and relations between the Gaels and Bernicia, and later Northumbria, were friendly as Bede himself notes.
After the defeat of Degsastan the annalists report nothing of Áedán until his death six years after the battle, which is to say 609 if Bede's dating is accepted.
Ceretic of Alt Clut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaCeretic Guletic of Alt Clut was a king of Alt Clut (modern Dumbarton) in the fifth century. He appears in the writings of St. Patrick with the Latin name Corocticus, and this appearance in a contemporary historical source makes him the first historical king. Of Patrick's two surviving letters, one is addressed to this Corocticus, and in it Patrick lambasts the milites Coroctici ("warband of Ceretic") for his involvement with the Picts and the Scots, and for selling newly-christianized Gaels into the hands of the Picts. Ceretic's dates therefore depend on the conclusions of the vast scholarship devoted to discovering the floruit of St Patrick, but the sometime in the fifth century is probably safe. Ceretic appears also in the Harleian genealogies of the rulers of Alt Clut, from which we know his father (Cynloyp), grand-father (Cinhil) and great-grandfather (Cluim). It is from the latter source that we get his nickname, Guletic ("Land-holder"). In the Book of Armagh, he is called Coirthech rex Aloo, "Ceretic, King of the Height [of the Clyde]"