Alpín mac Echdach
Encyclopedia
Alpín mac Eochaid may refer to two persons. The first person is a presumed king of Dál Riata in the late 730s. The second is the father of Kenneth MacAlpin
(Cináed mac Ailpín). The name Alpín is taken to be a Pictish one, derived from the Anglo-Saxon
name Ælfwine
; Alpín's patronymic means son of Eochaid or son of Eochu.
such as the Annals of Ulster
and the Annals of Innisfallen name Kenneth's father as one Alpín. This much is reasonably certain.
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
usually begins with Kenneth, but some variants include a reference to Kenneth's father: "[Alpín] was killed in Galloway
, after he had entirely destroyed and devastated it. And then the kingdom of the Scots was transferred to the kingdom [variant: land] of the Picts
."
John of Fordun
(IV, ii) calls Kenneth's father "Alpin son of Achay" (Alpín son of Eochu) and has him killed in war with the Picts in 836; Andrew of Wyntoun
's version mixes Fordun's war with the Picts with the Chronicle version which has him killed in Galloway.
traced their ancestry through Kenneth MacAlpin, through the Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata
to Fergus Mór
, and then to legendary Irish
kings such as Conaire Mór
and the shadowy Deda mac Sin
.
These genealogies, perhaps oral in origin, were subjected to some regularisation by the scribes who copied them into sources such as the Chronicle of Melrose
, the Poppleton Manuscript
and the like. Either by accident, or by design, a number of kings were misplaced, being moved from the early 8th century to the late 8th and early 9th century.
The original list is presumed to have resembled the following:
After modification to link this list of kings of Dál Riata to the family of Kenneth MacAlpin, the list is presumed to have been in this form:
However, the existence of the original Alpín is less than certain. No king in Dál Riata of that name is recorded in the Irish annals in the early 730s. A Pictish
king named Alpín
, whose father's name is not given in any Irish sources, or even from the Pictish Chronicle
king-lists, is known from the late 720s, when he was defeated by Óengus mac Fergusa
and Nechtan mac Der-Ilei
. For the year 742, the Annals of Ulster are read was referring to the capture of "Elffin son of Crop" (the former reading had besieged rather than captured). Whether Álpin son of Crup is related to the Álpin of the 720s is unknown.
Kenneth I of Scotland
Cináed mac Ailpín , commonly Anglicised as Kenneth MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as Kenneth I was king of the Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots, earning him the posthumous nickname of An Ferbasach, "The Conqueror"...
(Cináed mac Ailpín). The name Alpín is taken to be a Pictish one, derived from the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
name Ælfwine
Alboin
Alboin was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572...
; Alpín's patronymic means son of Eochaid or son of Eochu.
Alpín father of King Kenneth
Irish annalsIrish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
such as the Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
and the Annals of Innisfallen name Kenneth's father as one Alpín. This much is reasonably certain.
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, or Scottish Chronicle, is a short written chronicle of the Kings of Alba, covering the period from the time of Kenneth MacAlpin until the reign of Kenneth II . W.F...
usually begins with Kenneth, but some variants include a reference to Kenneth's father: "[Alpín] was killed in Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
, after he had entirely destroyed and devastated it. And then the kingdom of the Scots was transferred to the kingdom [variant: land] of the Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
."
John of Fordun
John of Fordun
John of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the St Machar's Cathedral of...
(IV, ii) calls Kenneth's father "Alpin son of Achay" (Alpín son of Eochu) and has him killed in war with the Picts in 836; Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...
's version mixes Fordun's war with the Picts with the Chronicle version which has him killed in Galloway.
Alpín of Dál Riata
The genealogies produced for Kings of Scots in the High Middle AgesScotland in the High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of king Alexander III in 1286...
traced their ancestry through Kenneth MacAlpin, through the Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata
Dál Riata
Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...
to Fergus Mór
Fergus Mór
Fergus Mór mac Eirc was a legendary king of Dál Riata. He was the son of Erc.While his historicity may be debatable, his posthumous importance as the founder of Scotland in the national myth of Medieval and Renaissance Scotland is not in doubt...
, and then to legendary Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
kings such as Conaire Mór
Conaire Mor
Conaire Mór , son of Eterscél, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His mother was Mess Búachalla, who was either the daughter of Eochu Feidlech and Étaín, or of Eochu Airem and his daughter by Étaín...
and the shadowy Deda mac Sin
Deda mac Sin
Deda mac Sin was a prehistoric king of the Érainn of Ireland, possibly of the 1st century BC. Variant forms or spellings include Dedu, Dedad, and Dega...
.
These genealogies, perhaps oral in origin, were subjected to some regularisation by the scribes who copied them into sources such as the Chronicle of Melrose
Chronicle of Melrose
The Chronicle of Melrose is a medieval chronicle from the Cottonian Manuscript, Faustina B. ix within the British Museum. It was written by unknown authors, though evidence in the writing shows that it most likely was written by the monks at Melrose Abbey. The chronicle begins on the year 735 and...
, the Poppleton Manuscript
Poppleton manuscript
The Poppleton Manuscript is the name given to the fourteenth century codex likely compiled by Robert of Poppleton, a Carmelite friar who was the Prior of Hulne, near Alnwick. The manuscript contains numerous works, such as a map of the world , and works by Orosius, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald...
and the like. Either by accident, or by design, a number of kings were misplaced, being moved from the early 8th century to the late 8th and early 9th century.
The original list is presumed to have resembled the following:
- 1. Eochaid mac DomangairtEochaid mac DomangairtEochaid mac Domangairt was a king of Dál Riata in about 697. He was a member of the Cenél nGabráin, the son of Domangart mac Domnaill and father of Eochaid mac Echdach; Alpín mac Echdach may also be a son of this Eochaid....
- 2. Ainbcellach mac FerchairAinbcellach mac FerchairAinbcellach mac Ferchair was king of the Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, and perhaps of all Dál Riata, from 697 until 698, when he was deposed and exiled to Ireland....
- 3. Eógan mac Ferchair
- 4. Selbach mac FerchairSelbach mac FerchairSelbach mac Ferchair was king of the Cenél Loairn and of Dál Riata. Selbach's existence is well-attested as he is mentioned repeatedly in Irish annals.-Life:Selbach mac Ferchair was a son of Ferchar Fota...
- 5. Eochaid mac EchdachEochaid mac EchdachEochaid mac Eochaid was king of Dál Riata from 726 until 733. He was a son of Eochaid mac Domangairt.Eochaid came to power as king of Dál Riata in 726, presumably deposing Dúngal mac Selbaig. Selbach may have tried to restore his son to power, and fought against Eochaid's supporters at Irros...
- 6. Dúngal mac SelbaigDúngal mac SelbaigDúngal mac Selbaig was king of Dál Riata. His reign can best be placed in the years 723 to 726, beginning with the abdication of his father, Selbach mac Ferchair, who entered a monastery, and ending with rise of Eochaid mac Echdach of the Cenél nGabráin...
- 7. Alpín
- 8. Muiredach mac AinbcellaigMuiredach mac AinbcellaigMuiredach mac Ainbcellaig was king of the Cenél Loairn, and of Dál Riata , from about 733 until 736.He was the son of Ainbcellach mac Ferchair. His coming to power is reported in 733, and is not obviously associated with the death of Eochaid mac Echdach, king of Dál Riata, in the Irish annals...
- 9. Eógan mac MuiredaigEógan mac MuiredaigEógan mac Muiredaig is named in some Scots sources as a king of Dál Riata, probably in the 730s.Presumed to be the son of Muiredach mac Ainbcellaig, and thus a king of the Cenél Loairn, Eógan is not named in any surviving Irish annals, nor does he appear in the Duan Albanach, which passes from...
- 10. Áed FindÁed FindÁed Find or Áed mac Echdach was king of Dál Riata . Áed was the son of Eochaid mac Echdach, a descendant of Domnall Brecc in the main line of Cenél nGabráin kings....
- 11. Fergus mac EchdachFergus mac EchdachFergus mac Echdach was king of Dál Riata from about 778 until 781.He succeeded Áed Find. He is stated to have been a son of Eochaid mac Echdach, and thus a brother of Áed. Some much later sources make him a son of Áed, but this is not credited by modern studies...
After modification to link this list of kings of Dál Riata to the family of Kenneth MacAlpin, the list is presumed to have been in this form:
- 1. Eochaid mac Domangairt
- 2. Ainbcellach mac Ferchair
- 3. Eógan mac Ferchair
- 8. Muiredach mac Ainbcellaig
- 9. Eogan mac Muiredaig
- 10. Áed Find
- 11. Fergus mac Echdach
- 4. Selbach mac Ferchair (called Selbach mac Eógain)
- 5. Eochaid mac Echdach (called Eochaid mac Áeda FindEochaid mac Áeda FindEochaid mac Áeda Find is a spurious King of Dál Riata found in some rare High Medieval king-lists and in older history books.Supposedly a son of Áed Find and successor to Áed's brother Fergus mac Echdach, Eochaid is now thought to represent a misplacing of the reign of Eochaid mac Echdach...
) - 6. Dúngal mac Selbaig (name unchanged)
- 7. Alpín (called Alpín mac Echdach)
However, the existence of the original Alpín is less than certain. No king in Dál Riata of that name is recorded in the Irish annals in the early 730s. A Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
king named Alpín
Alpín I of the Picts
Alpín was king of the Picts in the 720s, together with Drest. The Pictish Chronicle king lists give Alpín and Drest a five year joint rule. Alpín is a Pictish form of the Old English Ælfwine and may, perhaps, indicate a tie to Bernician exiles in Pictland, such as Eanfrith, father of Talorgan mac...
, whose father's name is not given in any Irish sources, or even from the Pictish Chronicle
Pictish Chronicle
The Pictish Chronicle is a name often given by historians to a list of the kings of the Picts beginning many thousand years before history was recorded in Pictavia and ending after Pictavia had been enveloped by Scotland...
king-lists, is known from the late 720s, when he was defeated by Óengus mac Fergusa
Óengus I of the Picts
Óengus son of Fergus , was king of the Picts from 732 until his death in 761. His reign can be reconstructed in some detail from a variety of sources.Óengus became the chief king in Pictland following a period of civil war in the late 720s...
and Nechtan mac Der-Ilei
Nechtan IV of the Picts
Nechtan mac Der-Ilei or Nechtan mac Dargarto was king of the Picts in the early 8th century. He succeeded his brother Bridei in 706. He is associated with significant religious reforms in Pictland. He abdicated in 724 in favour of his nephew and became a monk...
. For the year 742, the Annals of Ulster are read was referring to the capture of "Elffin son of Crop" (the former reading had besieged rather than captured). Whether Álpin son of Crup is related to the Álpin of the 720s is unknown.