The Cenél nGabráin was a
kin group
Kin usually refers to kinship and family.
Kin or KIN may also refer to:
Places
* Kin empires and dynasties of China, now romanized as ''Jin''
* Kin, Okinawa, a town in Okinawa, Japan
* Kin, Pakistan, a village along the Indus in Pakistan
* K ...
, presumed to descend from
Gabrán mac Domangairt, which dominated the kingship 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 ...
until the late 7th century and continued to provide kings thereafter. Kings of
Alba
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...
and of
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 ...
traced their descent through Gabrán to his grandfather
Fergus Mór, who was seen as the ultimate founder of the royal house as late as the 16th and 17th centuries, long after the
Gaelic origins of the kingdom.
Unlike the
Cenél Loairn, the
Senchus Fer n-Alban does not list any kindreds within the Cenél nGabráin. However, probable descendants of Gabrán, such as
Dúnchad mac Conaing and his many kinsmen, would appear to have disputed the succession with the descendants of
Eochaid Buide grandson of Gabrán, so that this absence of explicit segments in the kindred may be misleading.
[Sharpe, "The thriving of Dalriada", argues for the unimportance of such segments.] A genealogy of
David I of Scotland
David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...
in the
Book of Ballymote
The ''Book of Ballymote'' (, RIA MS 23 P 12, 275 foll.), was written in 1390 or 1391 in or near the town of Ballymote, now in County Sligo, but then in the tuath of Corann.
According to David Sellar who was the Lord Lyon King of Arms in ...
notes the following divisions:
* After
Áedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin (; ), also written as Aedan, was a king of Dál Riata from 574 until c. 609 AD. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland. Genealogies record that Áe ...
, between the main line, called "the sons of
Eochaid Buide" and "the children of
Cináed mac Ailpín", and the "sons of Conaing"
* After Eochaid Buide, between the main line and the "children of Fergus Goll" and the "children of
Connad Cerr ... or the men of
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
", although modern studies make Connad Cerr a member of the
Cenél Comgaill
* After
Eochaid mac Domangairt, between the main line and the Cenél Comgaill
The domain of the Cenél nGabráin appears to have been centred in
Kintyre
Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...
and
Knapdale and may have included
Arran,
Jura and
Gigha. The title king of Kintyre is used of a number of presumed kings of the Cenél nGabráin. Two probable royal sites are known,
Dunadd, which lies at the northern edge of their presumed lands, and Aberte (or Dún Aberte), which is very likely the later
Dunaverty on the headland beside
Southend, Kintyre.
Kilmartin may have been an important early
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
site by reason of its proximity to Dunadd and its dedication to
Saint Martin of Tours, as may
Kilmichael Glassary. However, there appears to be no religious site of the importance of
Lismore in the lands of the rival Cenél Loairn.
See also
*
Origins of the Kingdom of Alba
*
List of monarchs of Scotland
Notes
References
*
Adomnán of Iona, ''Life of Saint
Columba
Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...
'', tr. & ed. Richard Sharpe. Penguin, London, 1995.
*
Bannerman, John, ''Studies in the History of Dalriada.'' Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1974.
* Lane, Alan & Campbell, Ewan, ''Dunadd: An early Dalriadic capital'', Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2000.
* Sharpe, Richard, "The thriving of Dalriada" in Simon Taylor (ed.), ''Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297.'' Four Courts, Dublin, 2000.
{{Authority control
Kings of Dál Riata
Medieval Gaels from Scotland
People from Knapdale