Cináed mac Duib anglicised as Kenneth III, and nicknamed An Donn, "the Chief" or "the Brown", (before 967–25 March 1005) was King of Scots from 997 to 1005. He was the son of Dub

Dub of Scotland

Dub mac Maíl Coluim , sometimes anglicised as Duff MacMalcolm, called Dén, "the Vehement" and Niger, "the Black" was king of Alba...

 (Dub mac Maíl Coluim). Many of the Scots sources refer to him as Giric son of Kenneth son of Dub, which is taken to be an error.

The only event reported in Kenneth's reign is the killing of Dúngal mac Cináeda by Gille Coemgáin mac Cináeda, by the Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

 s.a. 999. It is not certain that this refers to events in Scotland, and whether one or both were sons of this Kenneth, or of Kenneth II of Scotland

Kenneth II of Scotland

Cináed mac Maíl Coluim was King of Scots...

, or some other person or persons, is not known. Kenneth was killed in battle at Monzievaird

Monzievaird

Monzievaird is situated two miles west of Crieff in Highland Perthshire, Scotland.It was originally named Muithauard c.1200, Moneward 1203. The name is derived from the Gaelic magh + bard; Plain of the bards. ....

 in Strathearn

Strathearn

Strathearn or Strath Earn is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland. It extends from Loch Earn in Perth and Kinross to the River Tay....

 by Malcolm II

Malcolm II of Scotland

Máel Coluim mac Cináeda , was King of the Scots from 1005 until his death...

 (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) in 1005.

Whether Boite mac Cináeda was a son of this Kenneth, or of Kenneth II, is uncertain, although most propose this Kenneth. A son, or grandson of Boite, was reported to be killed by Malcolm II in 1032 in the Annals of Ulster.

Kenneth's granddaughter, Gruoch daughter of Boite

Gruoch of Scotland

Gruoch ingen Boite was the daughter of Boite mac Cináeda son of Cináed III. She is most famous for being the wife and queen of Mac Bethad mac Findlaích . The dates of her life are not certainly known....

 (Gruoch ingen Boite meic Cináeda) — Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth (Shakespeare)

Lady Macbeth is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Macbeth . She is the wife to the play's protagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, but later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime...

 — was wife firstly of Gille Coemgáin

Gille Coemgáin of Moray

Gilla Coemgáin was the King or Mormaer of Moray, a semi-autonomous kingdom centred around Inverness that stretched across the north of Scotland. Unlike his two predecessors, he is not called King of Scotland in his death notice, but merely Mormaer...

, Mormaer of Moray

Mormaer of Moray

The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin...

, and secondly of King Macbeth

Macbeth of Scotland

Mac Bethad mac Findlaích was King of the Scots from 1040 until his death...

; her son by Gille Coemgáin, Lulach

Lulach of Scotland

Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin was King of Scots between 15 August 1057 and 17 March 1058.He appears to have been a weak king, as his nicknames suggest...

 (Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin), would briefly succeed Macbeth as King of Scotland. The meic Uilleim

Meic Uilleim

The Meic Uilleim were the Gaelic descendants of William fitz Duncan, grandson of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, king of Scots. They were excluded from the succession by the descendants of Máel Coluim's son David I during the 12th century and raised a number of rebellions to vindicate their claims to...

, descendants of William fitz Duncan

William fitz Duncan

William fitz Duncan was a Scottish prince, a territorial magnate in northern Scotland and northern England, a general and the legitimate son of king Donnchad II of Scotland by Athelreda of Dunbar.In 1094, his father Donnchad II was killed by Mormaer Máel Petair of...

 by his first marriage, were probably descended from Kenneth; and the Clann Mac Aoidh or Clan Mackay

Clan MacKay

Clan Mackay is an ancient and once powerful Scottish clan from the far north of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old kingdom of Moray. They were a powerful force in politics beginning in the 14th century, supporting Robert the Bruce. In the centuries that followed they were...

 claim descent from Kenneth III through Lulach's daughter.

External links

• CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork includes the Annals of Ulster, Tigernach, the Four Masters and Innisfallen, the Chronicon Scotorum, the Lebor Bretnach (which includes the Duan Albanach), Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.
• (CKA) The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba