| Notes |
- A medieval Scottish royal genealogy preserved in the Book of Leinster states:
Gabrán and Comgall were the two sons of Domangart, and Fedelm Foltchaín, daughter of Brión son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was their mother.
The original passage can be seen in the Book of Leinster.
Her name has several spellings:
Fedelm or Feidelm
Feldelmia in Latinized family trees
Foltchaín, an epithet approximately meaning “of the beautiful or fine hair”
Brión was the traditional ancestor of the Uí Briúin, one of the great royal dynasties of Connacht from which the later O’Connor kings descended. In the traditional genealogy, Brión was a half-brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages. If the pedigree were correct, Fedelm would therefore have been Niall’s niece. Dictionary of Irish Biography: Brión.
However, there are significant problems:
Fedelm is not named in the contemporary annals.
The surviving genealogy was written centuries after she supposedly lived.
The chronology of Brión and Niall is extremely uncertain.
Connecting Dál Riata’s royal family with the powerful Uí Briúin may have served later political or prestige purposes.
No reliable source supplies Fedelm’s birth, death, marriage place or title.
Therefore, online descriptions calling her a “Princess of Connacht” or “Queen of Dál Riata,” with exact dates such as 450–518, go beyond the surviving evidence.
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