DALRIADA -------- Also called Dal Riata. PERIODISATION AND TERMS People from IRELAND (Ulster) settled western SCOTLAND not later than about AD 500, perhaps earlier. Sources older than AD 1000, at any rate, begin agreeing around AD 500, at the time of Fergus Mor son of Erc, a minor Irish king who apparently was the first of the Dal Riata to rule from Scotland. Although their presence in two regions assures them this entry in the Polities FAQ, the Dalriadans were rarely of real importance before AD 700. The main exceptions are their military victories under Aedan, which were later more than compensated by his and his grandson Domnall Brecc's defeats (these apparently led to the loss of the Irish territories); and their patronage of the monastery at Iona where Columba (Colum Cille, c 521 - 597) and Adomnan (c 624 - 709) were abbots. The later dynasty which founded Alba (Scotland) claimed descent from the Dalriadan kings. Comgall ? 507 - ? 538 Erc Gabran ? 538 - c 558 | Conall c 558 - 574 FERGUS MOR Aedan 574 - ? 608 | Eochaid Buide ? 608 - 629 DOMANGART Domnall Brecc 629 - 642 ----------------+-------------- Ferchar ? 636 - c 650 COMGALL GABRAN Conall Crandomna c 650 - c 660 | | ? Dunchad c 650 - ? 660 CONALL AEDAN Domangart c 660 - c 673 | | Maelduin c 673 - c 689 CONNAD CERR EOCHAID BUIDE | ---------------------+---------- FERCHAR DOMNALL BRECC CONALL CRANDOMNA | | DOMANGART MAELDUIN : Kings of Alba Treatments of the Scots usually also deal with the Picts because so much of the evidence is shared. Without any further discussion of the Picts here, I'll anyway present some of the major Pictish kings. This list like the material above relies on Anderson (cited below). Bridei son of Maelcon ? 556 - ? 586 Gartnart son of Domelch ? 586 - ? 597 ?Necta son of Uerb ? 597 - ? 617 Cinioch son of Luitrin ? 617 - 631 Talorc son of Uuid 641 - 653 Bredei son of Bili 671 - 692 Bredei son of Derelei 696 - ? 706 It is not particularly clear whether the concept of a royal capital is meaningful for these kingdoms this early; anyway, there doesn't seem to be agreed evidence as to where any given king's capital was. Dunadd is sometimes thought to have been a Dalriadan capital. INTRODUCTORY . Lloyd and Jenny Laing. Stroud, Gloucestershire and Dover, New Hampshire: Alan Sutton, 1993. A wide-ranging introduction, well illustrated and clearly written. RESEARCH . Marjorie O. Anderson. Edinburgh and London: Scottish Academic Press, 1980. (Revised edition, original 1973; the revisions are not extensive.) A highly technical monograph on the literary sources. (For archaeology, see the references under SCOTLAND.) Includes the texts of many of these sources, and a fairly detailed discussion (pages 119-201) of what can be learnt from them. Main source for the above information. Remains the standard reference. See also , cited under IRELAND, for the Dal Riata of Ireland. Created October 21, 1997. Last updated February 15, 2001 (but only by removing a broken link). Next due for full update July 27, 2002. Reviewed by old-irish-list (but without any criticisms received). URL: