Áedán mac Gabráin
For others of the same name, see Aidan (disambiguation). |
Satellite image of northern Britain and Ireland showing the approximate area of Dál Riata (shaded). |
Áedán mac Gabráin was king of
Dál Riata from c. 574 to his death, c. 609, when he was said to be over 70.
[Áedán's age is given as 74 and his reign as 38 years by the Annals of Tigernach; age 88 and reign 37 years by the Chronicon Scotorum; and a reign 24 years in the Duan Albanach.]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 of Iona's
Life of Saint Columba. Áedán also appears as a character in the early Irish poems
Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin and
Compert Mongán.
The historical Áedán was a son of
Gabrán mac Domangairt (died c. 555–560), and had at least one brother, Eógan, who died c. 593.
[Death of Eógan, Annals of Ulster, s.a. 593. Cf. Adomnán, III, 5.] The
Senchus fer n-Alban lists five sons of Gabrán: Cuildach, Domnall and Domangart, as well as Áedán and Eógan.
However, in the Rawlinson B 502 manuscript, dated to c. 1130, is the poem
Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin (The Birth of Brandub son of Eochu and of Aedán son of Gabrán). This tells how Áedán was a son of Echu mac Muiredaig mac "engusa of the
Uí Cheinnselaig of
Laigin, and thus the twin brother of
Brandub mac Echach (died c. 605–608). Áedán was exchanged at birth for one of the twin daughters of Gabrán, born the very same night, so that each family might have a son. Whether the tale is entirely fabricated, or whether it echoes a foster-relationship between Áedán and Brandub, can only be conjectured.
[See Gein Branduib (at CELT) under External links] |
Footprint used in king-making ceremonies, Dunadd |
Áedán became king after the death of his cousin,
Conall mac Comgaill c. 572–574.
[Death of Conall: Annals of Ulster, s.a. 574; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 573; etc.] Adomnán's
Life of Saint Columba recounts that the Saint had a vision of an angel on three successive nights: the angel commanded Columba to ordain Áedán as king rather than Eógan his brother.
[Adomnán, Life, III, 5.] If accurate, this is one of the first ordinations known, although
Gildas refers to the anointing of kings in
De excidio.
[Broun, "Aedán mac Gabráin"; Snyder, Age of Tyrants, p. 86; Gildas, De excidio, chapter 21; Adomnán, Life, note 358; Byrne, Irish Kings and High-Kings, p. 159.]A convention of many Irish kings was convoked at Druim Cett (probably near
Limavady). Among the matters settled there was an agreement fostered by Columba between Áedán and
Áed mac Ainmuirech of the
Cenél Conaill, a branch of the northern
Uí Néill to which Columba himself belonged, possibly in 575. This settled the relationship of Dál Riata and the Uí Néill high kings.
[Columba was a grandson of Fergus Cendfota, and Áed a great-grandson, see Adomnán, Life, Table 1. The actual date of the meeting at Druim Cett is debated. Sharpe, in the editor's notes to Adomnán's Life, note 204, favours a much later date, circa 590. Sharpe is followed by Meckler (The Annals of Ulster and the date of the meeting at Druim Cett, Peritia, vol. 11, 1997) but this is challenged by Jaski (Druim Cett revisited (Peritia, vol. 12, 1998).] The apparent purpose of the alliance between the Cenél Conaill and the Dál Riata was to contain the ambitious king of
Ulaid,
Báetán mac Cairill.
In the first year of Áedán's rule, the
Irish annals record a battle at Teloch or Delgenn (the location is unknown) in
Kintyre. The annalist records the death of Conall's son Dúnchad "and many others of the followers of Gabrán's sons". Their opponent is not recorded, but if not a civil war fought over the succession, then it may be that this represented an effort by Báetán mac Cairill to extend his control over Dál Riata.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 576; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 574. Both entries are for the year following Conall's death.] The reporting of the battle of Teloch suggests a Dál Riatan defeat, as does the expedition by the Ulaid to the
Isle of Man the following year. The Ulaid did not remain long in control of Man, as they retired the following year.
[" Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 50–51; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 577, 578; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 575, 576.]In 580, according to the Annals of Ulster, Áedán undertook an expedition to
Orkney. This may have been followed by a second the following year. Orkney had been under the authority of the
Pictish king
Bridei mac Maelchon (died c. 581–584), but it may not have been under the control of his successor
Gartnait.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 580, 581; Adomnán, Life, II, 42, and note 324.] At the same time, Áedán's ally Áed mac Ainmuirech won the battle of Druim Meic Erce over the
Cenél nEógan.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 580.] As well as Orkney, it has been suggested that Áedán also campagned in the Isle of Man in the early 580s, although the evidence for this is slim. It is more likely that Áedán campaigned against the
Britons of
Gododdin at this time.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 582: "The battle of Manu, in which Aedán son of Gabrán son of Domangart was victor", also s.a. 583. Cf. Annales Cambriae, s.a. 584: "Battle against the Isle of Man ..." The location of Manu is discussed by Sharpe in Adomnán, Life, note 81, where Manaw, the British kingdom or tribe in the area of Stirling and Clackmannan is proposed.] The annals report that Áedán won the battle of Lethreid, but against whom, and where this was, are unknown.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 590. "Lethreid" is not listed in the Onomasticon Goedelicum, even as an unknown location.] The
Gein Brandub says that Áedán tried to impose himself as
High King of Ireland, supposedly as a great-grandson of legendary king
Conaire Már mac Eterscélae, but if Conaire Már existed it must have been far distant from Áedán's time and he cannot have been a great-grandson of Conaire. The
Compert Mongán begins with the statement
Fiachnae Lurgan [mac Báetáin], the father of Mongán, was sole king of the province [of Ulster]. He had a friend in Scotland, to wit, Áedán, the son of Gabrán.[Translation by Mary Jones, see External links.]
There is no evidence of an alliance between Fiachnae and Áedán other than the tale of Mongán, but the claim that Fiachnae fought with Áedán against Æthelfrith and the Bernicians is more credible than the tale of the High Kingship in the
Gein Brandub.
The matter of how many sons Áedán had, and what they were called, is unclear. The Senchus says that he had seven sons, naming them as Eochaid Buide and Eochaid Find, Tuathal, Bran, Baithéne, Conaing and Gartnait. This list is doubtful as it contradicts sources closer to the time and contains improbable names.
[See the discussion of the name Conaing in Byrne, Irish Kings and High-Kings, pp. 111–112. Baithéne would appear most likely to be post-600 and the death of Abbot Baithéne of Iona.]Adomnán, in the
Life of Saint Columba, states that Áedán had three grown sons: Artuir, Eochaid Find and Domangart, and asked Columba which of these would succeed him. He reports that Columba prophesied that all three would be killed before Áedán and that Eochaid Buide, then only a child, would succeed him.
[Adomnán, Life, I, 9.]The death of Áedán's sons Bran and Domangart is recorded for 596.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 596] The Annals of Tigernach record additional details, including that there was a battle in Circinn - in Pictland - so it may be assumed that the battle was fought against the
Picts. Tigernach also recorded, or some later copyist added, the death of four of Áedán's sons in this year: Bran, Domangart, Eochaid Fínd and Artuir.
[Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 594.] Earlier victories turned to defeat when Áedán led a large force ("an immense and mighty army", as Bede calls it) against
Æthelfrith of Bernicia, who had been successfully expanding his territory at the expense of the British. Áedán was decisively defeated at the
battle of Degsastan, perhaps in
Liddesdale c. 600–603 (Bede and the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say 603). According to Bede, most of Áedán's army was slain by Æthelfrith's smaller force, and Áedán himself fled; after this defeat, Bede reports, the Dalriadan kings would not make war against the English again, right up to Bede's own time, 130 years later.
[Bede, H. E., I, 34.] The Bernician exile
Hering son of Hussa and the
Cenél nEógan prince Máel Umai mac Báetáin fought on Áedán's side at the battle, and Máel Umai is said to have slain "Eanfrith brother of Æthelfrith".
[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ms. E., s.a. 603; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 598.]It should be said that the war between Áedán and Æthelfrith, as with the wars between Áedán and Picts, and with his fellow Gaels, were not life and death struggles between one "race" and another. The presence of Hering with Áedán's army makes that plain. War was the normal state of affairs, and if not Æthelfrith, then Áedán would have fought another of his neighbours. Indeed, on Æthelfrith's death his sons would find refuge at the court of Áedán's son Eochaid Buide, and relations between the Gaels and Bernicia, and later
Northumbria, were friendly as Bede himself notes.
[Bede, HE, IV, 26.]After the defeat of Degsastan the annalists report nothing of Áedán until his death six years after the battle, which is to say 609 if Bede's dating is accepted.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 606 (Degsastan s.a. 600); Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 604 (Degsastan s.a. 598); Annales Cambriae, s.a. 607.]Printed sources only, see also External links for primary sources and other materials* Adomnán,
Life of St Columba, tr. & ed. Richard Sharpe. Penguin, London, 1995. ISBN 0-14-044462-9
* Broun, Dauvit, "Aedán mac Gabráin" in Michael Lynch (ed.),
The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford UP, Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0-19-211696-7
* Broun, Dauvit, "Dál Riata" in Lynch (2001).
* Byrne, Francis John,
Irish Kings and High-Kings. Batsford, London, 1973. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
* " Cróinín, Dáibhí,
Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200. Longman, London, 1995. ISBN 0-582-01565-0
* Sharpe, Richard, "The thriving of Dalriada" in Simon Taylor (ed.),
Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297. Fourt Courts, Dublin, 2000. ISBN 1-85182-516-9
* Smyth, Alfred P.,
Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Edinburgh UP, Edinburgh, 1984. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
*Snyder, Christopher A.,
An Age of Tyrants: Britain and the Britons A.D. 400–600. Sutton, Stroud, 1998. ISBN 0-7509-1928-0
*
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at
University College Cork includes:
**
Gein Branduib (original & translation)
**Annals of Ulster
**Annals of Tigernach
**Annals of Innisfallen
**Annals of the Four Masters
**Chronicon Scotorum
*
Annales Cambriae (translated) at the
Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
*
Bede's Ecclesiastical History and its Continuation (pdf), at
CCEL, translated by A.M. Sellar.
*
Compert Mongán translated by Mary Jones.
*
Artúr mac Aedan of Dalriada by Michelle Ziegler,
The Heroic Age Issue 1, Spring/Summer 1999.
