Áed Find (Áed the White), or Áed mac Echdach (before 732–778), was king of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...

(modern western

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and County Antrim, Ireland). Áed was the son of Eochaid mac Echdach, a descendant of

Domnall Brecc Domnall Brecc (Welsh: ''Dyfnwal Frych''; English: ''Donald the Freckled'') (died 642 in Strathcarron) was king of Dál Riata, in modern Scotland, from about 629 until 642. He was the son of Eochaid Buide. He was counted as Donald II of Scotland ...

in the main line of

Cenél nGabráin The Cenél nGabráin was a kin group, presumed to descend from Gabrán mac Domangairt, which dominated the kingship of Dál Riata until the late 7th century and continued to provide kings thereafter. Kings of kingdom of Alba, Alba and of Scotland ...

kings. According to later genealogies, Áed was the great-grandfather of

Kenneth MacAlpin Kenneth MacAlpin (; ; 810 – 13 February 858) or Kenneth I was King of Dál Riada (841–850), and King of the Picts (848–858), of likely Gaelic origin. According to the traditional account, he inherited the throne of Dál Riada from his fa ...

(Cináed mac Ailpín) who is traditionally counted as the first

king of Scots The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...

. This descent ran through Áed's son Eochaid mac Áeda Find and Eochaid's son

Alpín mac Echdach Alpín mac Echdach was a supposed king of Dál Riata, an ancient kingdom that included parts of Ireland and Scotland. Alpín was included in a pedigree chart created in the 10th century to connect the kings of Alba (Scotland) to legendary Dál R ...

. The evidence for the existence of Eochaid and Alpín is uncompelling. The

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, 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 Luin� ...

in 768 report "Bellum i Fortrinn iter Aedh & Cinaedh": a battle in

Fortriu Fortriu (; ; ; ) was a Pictish kingdom recorded between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland, but is more likely to have been based in the north, in the Moray and ...

between Áed and Cináed. This is usually read as meaning Áed Find and the

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

king Ciniod I, who is called "Cinadhon" in the notice of his death in 775. Áed's death in 778 is noted by the Annals of Ulster. He appears to have been followed as king by his brother Fergus mac Echdach. The "Laws of Áed Eochaid's son" are mentioned by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba in the reign of Áed's supposed great-grandson Donald MacAlpin (Domnall mac Ailpín): "In his time the

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...

with their king made the rights and laws of the kingdom hat are called the lawsof Áed Eochaid's son, in Forteviot." What these laws concerned is not known.

In fiction

Áed Find is playable in ''

Crusader Kings II ''Crusader Kings II'' is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's '' Crusader Kings''. On Octob ...

'' (under the

regnal name A regnal name, regnant name, or reign name is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they accede ...

Áed III) in the ''Charlemagne'' DLC's 769 AD start date, and is treated as an independent

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

. His son Eochaid and brother Fergus also exist in his court. Without player intervention his realm is usually quickly conquered by neighboring

Pictland The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pictish stones. The name appears in ...

Notes

References

''For primary sources, see also'' External links ''below'' * Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. * Bannerman, John, "The Scottish Takeover of Pictland" in Dauvit Broun & Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.) ''Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland.'' T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1999. * Broun, Dauvit, ''The Irish Identity of the Kingdom of the Scots.'' Boydell, Woodbridge, 1999. * Broun, Dauvit, "Pictish Kings 761–839: Integration with Dál Riata or Separate Development" in Sally M. Foster (ed.), ''The St Andrews Sarcophagus: A Pictish masterpiece and its international connections.'' Four Courts, Dublin, 1998.

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
''Annals of Clonmacnoise''
a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aed Find 8th-century births 778 deaths Year of birth unknown Kings of Dál Riata 8th-century Irish monarchs 8th-century Scottish monarchs