Aedan of Dalriada

• General Notes
  • Aedan mac Gabhran He was the son of Gabhran, king of Dalriada, and became king after the death of his kinsman, King Conall, when he was crowned at Iona by Saint Columba. He refused to allow his kingdom to remain dependent on the Irish Dairiada, but coming into collision with his southern neighbours he led a large force against ¡thelfrith, king of the Northumbrians, and was defeated at a place called Daegsanstane, probably in Liddesdale. He was succeeded by his son, Eochaid Buide. Some consider him a possible historical basis for King Arthur.
    (Wikipedia)
    
    Andan or Aedhan, succeeded his cousin Kinatellus, A. D. 570, and received the royal insignia from St. Colomba, a man at that time of such authority that neither King nor people did anything without his consent. Andan or Adrian's first expedition was against the robbers of Galloway, whom he suppressed and severely punished their chiefs, and established justice in the realm. He died A. D. 604, reigned 34 years. Of his three sons, Arthur, Prince of Scotland, and Dongardius were slain in battle against the Picts and Saxons.
    (Kin of Mellcene Thurman Smith, page 585)Áedán mac Gabráin (Old Irish pronunciation ['aiða?n mak 'gavra?n?]) was king of Dál Riata from circa 574 onwards. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland. Genealogies record that Áedán was a son of Gabrán mac Domangairt.
    
    He was a contemporary of Saint Columba, and much that is recorded of his life and career comes from hagiography such as Adomnán of Iona's Life of Saint Columba. Áedán appears as a character in many Old Irish and Middle Irish language works of prose and verse, some now lost.
    
    The Irish annals record Áedán's campaigns against his neighbours, in Ireland, and in northern Britain, including expeditions to the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man, and the east coast of Scotland. As recorded by Bede, Áedán was decisively defeated by Æthelfrith of Bernicia at the Battle of Degsastan. Áedán may have been deposed, or have abdicated, following this defeat. He died c. 608.
    
    The sources for Áedán's life include Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; Irish annals, principally the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Tigernach; and Adomnán's Life of Saint Columba. Áedán appears as a character in the early Irish works Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin and Compert Mongáin. The Senchus fer n-Alban, a census and genealogy of Dál Riata, records his ancestry and his immediate descendants.
    
    The Rawlinson B. 502 manuscript, dated to c. 1130, contains the tale Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin (The Birth of Brandub son of Eochu and of Aedán son of Gabrán). In this story, Áedán is the twin brother of Brandub mac Echach, a King of Leinster who belonged to the Uí Cheinnselaig kindred. Áedán is exchanged at birth for one of the twin daughters of Gabrán, born the same night, so that each family might have a son. The Prophecy of Berchán also associates Áedán with Leinster. A modern study concludes that "[t]here seems to be no basis of fact behind these traditions".
    
    A lost Irish tale, Echtra Áedáin mac Gabráin (The Adventures of Áedán son of Gabrán) appears in a list of works, but its contents are unknown. Áedán is a character in the epic Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin, but the events which inspired the tale appear to have taken place in the middle of the seventh century.
    
    Áedán was succeeded by his son Eochaid Buide. Adomnán gives an account of Columba's prophecy that Eochaid's older brothers would predecease their father. Áedán's other sons are named by the Senchus fer n-Alban as Eochaid Find, Tuathal, Bran, Baithéne, Conaing, and Gartnait. Adomnán also names Artúr, called a son of Conaing in the Senchus, and Domangart, who is not included in the Senchus. Domangart too may have been a grandson rather than a son of Áedán, most likely another son of Conaing. The main line of Cenél nGabráin kings were the descendants of Eochaid Buide through his son Domnall Brecc, but the descendants of Conaing successfully contested for the throne throughout the 7th century and into the 8th.
    
    It has been suggested that Gartnait son of Áedán could be the same person as Gartnait son of Domelch, king of the Picts, whose death is reported around 601, but this rests on the idea of Pictish matriliny, which has been criticised. Even less certainly, it has been argued that Gartnait's successor in the Pictish king-lists, Nechtan, was his grandson, and thus Áedán's great-grandson.
    
    Of Áedán's daughters, less is known. Maithgemm, also recorded as Gemma, married a prince named Cairell of the Dál Fiatach. The names of Áedán's wives are not recorded, but one was said to be British, and another may have been a Pictish woman named Domelch, if indeed the Gartnait son of Domelch and Gartnait son of Áedán are one and the same.
    (Wikipedia)
    

Click here for details of Aedan's family with Domelch of the Picts

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