Túathalán (died c.747) was a
GaelicThe Goidelic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. They historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic...
or
ScotoThe Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group which originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to Scotland and the Isle of Man. They are speakers of the Goidelic languages – Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx...
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PictishThe Picts were a confederation of tribes living in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from before the Roman conquest of Britain until the 10th century. They lived to the north of the Forth and Clyde rivers, and spoke the extinct Pictish language, thought to have been related to...
abbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of Cennrigmonaid. He is known only from his
obituaryAn obituary is primarily an attempt by a publication to give an account of the life of someone considered significant who has recently died...
in the
Annals of UlsterThe Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 and 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...
. Cennrigmonaid, literally "head of the king's pastureland", is a site associated with later St. Andrews, and indeed is probably that site's former name. Túathalán is the first cleric associated with a church establishment there, and in fact, Túathalán's obituary constitutes our first source for both the existence of a church there and for the existence of the location itself.
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Túathalán (died c.747) was a
GaelicThe Goidelic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. They historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic...
or
ScotoThe Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group which originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to Scotland and the Isle of Man. They are speakers of the Goidelic languages – Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx...
-
PictishThe Picts were a confederation of tribes living in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from before the Roman conquest of Britain until the 10th century. They lived to the north of the Forth and Clyde rivers, and spoke the extinct Pictish language, thought to have been related to...
abbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of Cennrigmonaid. He is known only from his
obituaryAn obituary is primarily an attempt by a publication to give an account of the life of someone considered significant who has recently died...
in the
Annals of UlsterThe Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 and 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...
. Cennrigmonaid, literally "head of the king's pastureland", is a site associated with later St. Andrews, and indeed is probably that site's former name. Túathalán is the first cleric associated with a church establishment there, and in fact, Túathalán's obituary constitutes our first source for both the existence of a church there and for the existence of the location itself. The church was likely founded around the beginning of the 8th century, probably by
Óengus I mac FergusaÓengus 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...
,
King of the Picts, although King
Nechtan mac Der-IleNechtan 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 significiant religious reforms in Pictland. He abdicated in 724 in favour of his nephew and became a monk...
may also have been responsible. Túathalán may therefore have been the first ever abbot of the location. There was probably a
HexhamHexham Abbey is a place of Christian worship dedicated to St Andrew and located in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in northeast England...
connection. The latter was a monastic establishment whose writings show a good deal of knowledge about the Picts, and who share a dedication to St. Andrew, although Túathalán's name is Gaelic, not English.