Brion of Ireland

Notes:

Brion son of Eochaid Mugmedon, older half-brother of Niall Noigiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), was one of the three brothers whose descendants were known as the Connachta and who gave their name to the province of Connacht in the west of Ireland. His particular descendants, the Ui Briuin, gave rise to many Kings of Connacht and its ruling families over the next thousand years.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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.

Family/Spouse: King Domangart mac Fergusa. Domangart (son of King Fergus of Dalriada) was born est 480; died about 506. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Accession: 538; King of Dál Riata

Notes:

Became King in 538, after the death of his brother Comgall. King of Dál Riata, the maritime kingdom spanning western Scotland and northeastern Ireland during the 500s. Dál Riata, connecting modern Argyll and Kintyre in Scotland with part of County Antrim in Ireland.

Founder and namesake of the Cenél nGabráin, meaning “the kindred or descendants of Gabrán,” principally associated with Kintyre.

Very little is known about Gabrán’s personal actions. His importance comes primarily from his descendants. The Cenél nGabráin became one of Dál Riata’s principal royal families and was centered in Kintyre. His son Áedán expanded Dál Riata’s power and was inaugurated as king with the involvement of Saint Columba.

Later kings of Alba and Scotland claimed descent through Gabrán, Áedán and their successors. Therefore, Gabrán became an important figure in Scotland’s royal origin tradition—although portions of the long pedigree leading to Kenneth MacAlpin and later Scottish kings remain debated. James Fraser’s study of the Cenél nGabráin examines those early lineages.

Gabrán may have been associated with royal centers such as Dunadd, but no contemporary evidence says he was born, lived or died there. Dunadd was an important Dál Riatan royal center between approximately 500 and 800.

Family/Spouse: Lleian of Dalriada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Accession: 574; King of Dál Riata

Notes:

Áedán mac Gabráin—often anglicized as Aidan—was one of the most powerful early kings of Dál Riata, the Gaelic kingdom spanning parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ireland.

The scholarly Dictionary of Irish Biography dates him approximately 534–606/609. Medieval annalistic chronology is inconsistent: the Annals of Ulster place his death under 606 and call him “king of Albu,” meaning king of Scotland or northern Britain in the terminology of that period. (Annals of Ulster, U606.2)

Áedán became king around 574, succeeding his relative Conall mac Comgaill. According to Adomnán’s seventh-century Life of Columba, Saint Columba inaugurated or consecrated Áedán as king on Iona. Adomnán presents this as a divinely commanded choice and describes Columba blessing Áedán by laying his hand upon his head. (Adomnán’s Life of Columba)

Soon afterwards Áedán participated in the Convention of Druim Cett, probably around 575–576. This gathering involved Columba and Áed mac Ainmuirech, an important Irish king. It may have clarified the relationship between the Scottish and Irish portions of Dál Riata, although later claims that it formally established Scottish independence go beyond the evidence.

Áedán conducted campaigns across northern Britain:

• He was victorious at the Battle of Manau, probably around the Forth or Stirling area, in 582/583. (Annals of Ulster)
  
• He fought the Miathi, probably the Maeatae of central Scotland. Adomnán says Áedán won but suffered severe losses, including the deaths of sons named Artúr and Eochaid Find.
  
• He may have campaigned as far north as Orkney.
  
• In 603, he led a large army against Æthelfrith, king of Bernicia, but was decisively defeated at Degsastan. Bede says Áedán escaped with only a small number of men. The battlefield’s exact location remains unknown. (Bede, Ecclesiastical History, I.34)

The defeat at Degsastan apparently ended Áedán’s major eastward expansion. He may have retired, abdicated or lost effective control before his death, but the surviving accounts do not agree.

Áedán’s wife is not reliably known. “Domelch,” sometimes supplied by online family trees, rests on speculative reconstruction and should not be treated as established.

The Senchus Fer n-Alban attributes seven sons to him:

• Eochaid Buide — succeeded him as king
  
• Eochaid Find
  
• Tuathal
  
• Bran
  
• Báithíne
  
• Conaing
  
• Gartnait

Other early sources also call Artúr and Domangart his sons, although the Senchus makes them his grandsons through Conaing. This conflict cannot presently be resolved. Artúr is noteworthy as an early historical bearer of the name Arthur, but there is no solid evidence that he was the model for the legendary King Arthur.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Accession: ca 609; King of Dál Riata

Notes:

Eochaid Buide—also written Eochu Buide or Eochaidh Buidhe—was the son and successor of Áedán mac Gabráin. His nickname Buide means “yellow,” probably referring to blond or yellowish hair.

Eochaid was apparently one of Áedán’s younger sons. Adomnán’s Life of Columba relates that Áedán asked Saint Columba which of his sons would succeed him. Columba predicted that the older sons—Artúr, Eochaid Find and Domangart—would die in battle.

When Áedán’s younger sons were brought forward, Eochaid Buide reportedly ran into Columba’s lap. Columba blessed him and declared that he would become king and that his sons would reign after him. Although written as a saintly prophecy, it preserves the important historical fact that Eochaid succeeded his father. (Adomnán’s Life of Columba, Book I, Chapter 8)

Eochaid Buide should not be confused with his older brother Eochaid Find, who was reportedly killed fighting the Miathi.

Much less is recorded about Eochaid’s reign than about his father’s. He apparently maintained Dál Riata through a difficult period following Áedán’s defeat by the Angles at Degsastan.

During his reign, the exiled Northumbrian princes Oswald and Oswiu, sons of Æthelfrith, lived among the Gaels and Picts. They may have received protection or fosterage at Eochaid’s court, although Bede does not specifically name Eochaid. Oswald learned Gaelic and became a Christian during this exile, later bringing missionaries from Iona to Northumbria.

Near the end of Eochaid’s reign, Connad Cerr may have acted as a subordinate or co-king. Connad was killed around 629 at the Battle of Fid Eóin, where Dál Riata suffered a major defeat against the Cruithin of northeastern Ireland.

Death and the “King of the Picts” mystery - The Annals of Ulster record: “Death of Echaid Buide son of Aedán, king of the Picts.”

The entry appears under the annalistic year 629, though reconstructed chronologies sometimes move the event to approximately 631 or 632. (Annals of Ulster, U629). Eochaid does not appear in the surviving Pictish king lists. Therefore, “king of the Picts” might indicate:

• Temporary authority over some Pictish territory;
  
• Recognition of Dál Riata’s political influence;
  
• Confusion in the annalistic source; or
  
• A later copying error.

It is safest to identify him as king of Dál Riata, not definitively as king of all the Picts.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]