Ferchar Fota (''Ferchar the Tall'') (died c. 697) was probably king of the

Cenél Loairn The Cenél Loairn, the descendants of Loarn mac Eirc, controlled parts of northern Argyll around the Firth of Lorne, most probably centred in Lorne but perhaps including the islands of Mull and Colonsay, Morvern and Ardnamurchan. The boundary to ...

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is now ...

, and perhaps of all Dál Riata. His father is named as Feredach mac Fergusa and he was said to be a descendant in the 6th generation of

Loarn mac Eirc Loarn mac Eirc was a possible king of Dál Riata who may have lived in the 5th century. He was buried on Iona.J. M. P. Calise, Pictish sourcebook, Greenwood Press, 2002. Loarn's main significance is as the eponymous ancestor of Cenél Loairn, a kin ...

. Ferchar is first reported in the

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' ( abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-cent ...

in 678, when he led the Cenél Loairn to defeat on

Tiree Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and ...

against "the Britons", presumably those of

Alt Clut Dumbarton Castle ( gd, Dùn Breatainn, ; ) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton. History Dumba ...

. The battle is also reported by the

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

, but Ferchar is not named. The second report of Ferchar is that of his death in 697. Ferchar may have been king of Dál Riata from the 670s — the

Duan Albanach The Duan Albanach (Song of the Scots) is a Middle Gaelic poem. Written during the reign of Mael Coluim III, who ruled between 1058 and 1093, it is found in a variety of Irish sources, and the usual version comes from the ''Book of Lecan'' and '' ...

assigns him a reign of 21 years — or he may have become king of Dál Riata only on the death of

Domnall Donn Domnall Donn (died 696) was king of Dál Riata (modern western Scotland). He was a son of Conall Crandomna. His death is reported by the Annals of Ulster, but without mention of a title. He is among the kings named by the Duan Albanach, following ...

in 696. His sons Ainbcellach and Selbach were kings of Dál Riata.

References

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. * Broun, Dauvit, ''The Irish Identity of the Kingdom of the Scots in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.'' Boydell, Woodbridge, 1999.

External links

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
a
University College Cork
**The Corpus of Electronic Texts 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. {{Kings of Dál Riata 697 deaths Kings of Dál Riata 7th-century Irish monarchs 7th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown