Person Page - 1642

     GAV-41 EDV-41. Vortepor (Gwrthefyr) (?) was Ruler of Demetia and Dyfed, [Ashley, p. 136] VORTEPOR or GWRTHEFYR Demetia/Dyfed, c5 1 5-c540. Vortepor is remembered from the writing of Gildas in The Ruin of Britain who rebuked the ruler for his evil ways, stating that he was the bad son of a good king (AIRCOL) who had committed murder and rape, possibly even of his own daughter. It does not seem that Vortepor was entirely bad, as Gildas likens him to a leopard, "spotted with wickedness". Since he lived during the relative peace and calm of the last golden age of Britain (between Badon and Camlann; see ARTHUR) and was accorded the title of Protector, it seems likely that he was a once strong and powerful ruler who had grown wicked in his old age because of the lack of action. A memorial inscription to Vortepor survives and originally stood in the church of Castell Dwyran, which was presumably the ancestral home of the rulers of Dyfed. Since Vortepor was a contemporary of ARTHUR it is surprising that he does not emerge in the Arthurian legends. At that time the ruler of Dyfed is recorded as Stater, a name that means nothing in the genealogies. Geoffrey of Monmouth regarded Vortepor as a frugal and peaceful king who ruled all of Britain after he had successfully defeated the Saxons. between 515 and 540.¹

     GAV-42 EDV-42 GKJ-42. Arcol Lawhir "Longhand" (?) was living in 500; Ruler of Demetia and Dyfed: [Ashley, p. 136] AIRCOL LA WHIR (LONGHAND) Demetia/Dyfed, fl 500. The son of TRYFFIN. Although descended from Irish settlers, Aircol and his father clearly came under Roman influence as evidenced by their names. It is thus likely that they served in the armies developed under AMBROSIUS AURELIANUS and ARTHUR to defend Britain after the end of Roman rule from the invading Picts and Saxons. Aircol is also remembered as a strong patron of the church, granting lands to St Teilo. He was succeeded by his notorious son Gwrthefyr or VORTEPOR.³

     GAV-43 EDV-43. Tryffin I Farfog "the Bearded" (?) was living circa 480; [Ashley, p. 135] TRYFFIN (I) FARFOG (the BEARDED)ruled in the 480s. He was presumably the son of AED, although it is with him that the names of the rulers shift from Irish to a Romanized Celtic. Tryffin may be no more than the Celtic translation of Tribune. Since his son, AIRCOL, is the Celtic form of Agricola, and his grandson, VORTEPOR, was known as the Protector, rather than King, we must recognize that some other influence may have been at work at this time. Tradition states he married the daughter of Clotri, a British lord of Dyfed, descended from MAGNUS MAXIMUS. Although the Roman Empire had long abandoned Britain by the 470s, attempts to sustain the Roman culture and civilisation continued, particularly in the former Roman heartlands of Gloucester and southeast Wales. It is possible that this influence reached into Demetia, and that one branch of the ruling family became strongly Romanized and found themselves as senior officials in the army of AMBROSIUS AURELIANUS and subsequently ARTHUR. It is recorded that CUNEDDA and his sons drove the Irish out of north Wales, and pushed them back in the south. It is likely that at this time Demetia was split into two, with the territory of Brycheiniog being separated to the east, and Demetia taking the form of later Dyfed on the south-west peninsula.¹

     GAV-44 EDV-44 GKJ-44. Aed (?) was living circa 450.¹

     GAV-45 EDV-45. Corath (?) was living circa 420; [Ashley, p. 135] Corath was the son of EOCHAID and ruler of the Demetian Irish in southwest Wales in the first quarter of the fifth century. Although nothing is recorded of his reign it is certain that Corath must have established his power base across much of south Wales towards the territory of Gwent and probably north towards Venedotia. It was almost certainly the expansion during his reign and that of his son Aed that brought CUNEDDA to North Wales to contain the Irish advance.¹

     GAV-46 EDV-46. Eochaid (?) was [Ashley, p. 194] EOCHAID Irish chieftain of Demetia, fl 400. The name ascribed to the chieftain of the Déisi, in Leinster, who led settlers across from Ireland at about the end of the fourth century to establish themselves in southwest Wales and in parts of Cornwall. By all accounts the settlement was peaceful; there is no evidence, archeological or written, of wars, though these certainly developed in later years. Eochaid is recorded as the son of Artchorp, who was ruler of the Déisi in the lands around present-day Waterford and Tipperary. circa 400.¹

     GAV-47 EDV-47 GKJ-47.

     GAV-48 EDV-48 GKJ-48.

     GAV-49 EDV-49.

     Fedlimid Rechtmar "the Law-Giver" (?) High King of Ireland died in 174.¹
     GAV-56 EDV-56 GKJ-57. He was High King of Ireland between 164 and 174.¹

     Fergus mac Eochaid King of Dál Riata died in 781.¹
     He was King of Dál Riata, [Ashley, p. 205] FERGUS MAC EOCHAID ruled Dál Riata, 778-81. Fergus succeeded his brother AED FIND as ruler of the Dál Riata. By then he may well have been in his late forties and had lived long in the shadow of his powerful and successful brother. He left no mark and died three years later. The kingship then seems to have been disputed between two unidentifiable successors, DONNCORCI and DOMNALL. Fergus was the father of CONSTANTINE, the first true king of the combined kingdom of Scots and Picts. between 778 and 781.¹

     Constantine mac Fergus died in 820.¹
     He was King of the Picts between 789 and 820.¹ He was King of Dál Riata, [Ashley, p. 206] CONSTANTINE MAC FERGUS Picts, 789-820; Dál Riata, 811-20. Although Constantine was the son of the Dál Riatan king, FERGUS MAC EOCHAID, he did not apparently inherit the throne on his father's death in 781. This may have been because his mother was a Pictish princess and he was thus the son of a second wife. Whatever the reason Constantine successfully challenged for the Pictish kingship in 789, defeating Conall mac Tadg.
Constantine was a powerful warrior king, able to withstand the devastating raids by the Danes and Vikings which wracked the western seaboard during his reign. These raids drove the Scots of Dál Riata further inland to seek safety. The Picts and the Scots gradually found themselves siding together to face a common enemy. It helped for them to be ruled by the same strong king. Constantine was able to claim the Dál Riatan kingship in 811 after the death of CONALL MAC AEDAN. He was only the second king since Angus to rule the Scots and the Picts at the same time, and he was the first to pass that joint rulership on to his successor, his brother ANGUS II. His reign was a major step toward the unification of Scotland. between 811 and 820.¹

     Angus mac Fergus died in 834.¹
     He was King of the Scots and the Picts, [Ashley, p. 207] ANGUS (II) MAC FERGUS ruled the Scots and Picts, 820-34. He was the first ruler to inherit the kingship of both the Scottish Dál Riata and the Picts when he succeeded his brother CONSTANTINE. He must by then have already been middle aged, perhaps even into his early fifties. He continued the work of his brother in strengthening and defending the kingdom against the Vikings, whose attacks on the western coast became more sustained and violent as each year passed. They sought not only young men and women to take into slavery, but also plunder from the holy places. One of the most chilling attacks was on Iona in 825. Most of the brothers had left for Kells in 814, but a small body remained guarding the relics of Columba. In 825 the Vikings assaulted the island for the fifth time trying to find Columba's tomb. The abbot Blathmac refused to reveal its whereabouts and, as a result, he was torn limb from limb. Angus continued to fortify the churches in the east of his kingdom and tradition states that he established the church at St Andrew's in Fife, where the saint's relics were transferred by Regulus (although the founding of St Andrew's has also been attributed to the earlier Angus). When Angus died the kingdom was divided between his sons and nephews who ruled jointly. Although they had Pictish names, it seems less likely that the mule of matrilinear succession applied in all cases, and it must be seen that by the reign of Angus, the old kingdom of the Picts had all but been subsumed into a greater kingdom of the Scots, although this was not formally recognized for another six years. between 820 and 834.¹

     Alpin mac Eochaid died in 736.¹
     He was ALPIN ruled Picts, 726-8; Dál Riata, 733-6. MUIREDACH ruled Dál Riata, 733-6. The decade from 726 to 736 was one of constant warfare not only within the rival families of the Dál Riata, but also amongst claimants to the throne of the Picts. This came to a head in 733 following the death of EOCHAID (III). His brother (or half-brother) ALPIN, who had briefly claimed the kingship of the Picts, now claimed the throne of Dál Riata (see page xx). He was challenged by Muiredach, the son of AINBCELLACH and cousin of the earlier king DUNGAL, who was still active in the struggle for the throne, in support of the Pictish king DRUST. ANGUS, who finally defeated the other claimants and gained the throne of the Picts, turned his anger against Dál Riata, needing to silence both Alpin, his former rival, and DUNGAL, who had plotted against him. The war raged for three years, and in 736 Angus defeated (and possibly killed) Alpin, and captured DUNGAL. Muiredach was defeated in battle by Angus's brother, but it is not certain that he was killed. At least one annal records the death of Muiredach in 771, which might mean that Muiredach fled to Ireland. between 726 and 728.¹

     Conall Crandomna mac Eochaid King of Dál Riata was King of Dál Riata, [Ashley, p. 201] CONALL (II) CRANDOMNA MAC EOCHAID Dál Riata, 650-60. He succeeded FERCHAR to a divided kingdom, sharing it with a distant cousin, DUNCHAD, after whose death in 654, Conall ruled alone. The once powerful kingdom of Dál Riata had suffered defeats during the reign of Conall's brother DOMNALL BRECC from which it would take generations to recover. Although Conall survived Dúnchad, we may believe that Conall continued to remain subservient to the Picts under TALORCEN and GARTNAIT. between 650 and 660.¹

     Artuir (Arthur) mac Aedan died in 590.¹

     Eoganán (?) died circa 593.²

     Brychan (?) married Ingenach (?), daughter of Dumnagual I (Dwyfnwal) Hen (?) King of Strathclyde.²

     GAV-43 EDV-43 GKJ-44.

     GAV-44 EDV-44 GKJ-45.

     Comgal (?) King of Dál Riata died in 538.¹
     He was King of Dál Riata: [Ashley, p. 197] COMGALL Dál Riata, 507-38. Son of DOMANGART, and the founder of the Comgall dynasty of Scots kings, usually known as the Cenél Comgall, which shared the Scot's rulership with Comgall's brother, GABHRAN, head of the Cenél Gabhráin. Comgall ruled for over thirty years, a remarkable span for such a period. Although little is recorded about him we can deduce at least two things from this length of reign. Firstly Comgall must have been comparatively young when he inherited the throne, perhaps in his twenties. Secondly, he must have been able to establish himself as a strong king to resist any aggression from the Picts, who were themselves suffering from considerable internecine strife, and in defending his territory against the Angles who were settling on the eastern coast. Perhaps we can speculate that the Scots had been accepted by the Picts and allowed to settle in a relatively enclosed area whilst the Picts were involved in their own struggles. Moreover Comgall's reign coincided with that of the strong ruler of Aiclud, DUMNAGUAL, whom Comgall was unlikely to challenge. It was only when Comgall's brother sought to expand the Dál Riatan territory that conflict emerged. between 507 and 538.¹

     GAV-47 EDV-47 GKJ-48.

     GAV-48 EDV-48 GKJ-49.

     GAV-49 EDV-49 GKJ-50.

     GAV-50 EDV-50 GKJ-51.

     GAV-51 EDV-51 GKJ-52.

     Eochaid Gunnat (?) died in 279.¹
     GAV-52 EDV-52 GKJ-53.

     GAV-53 EDV-53 GKJ-54. Cairbre Riata (?) was living in 220; [Ashley, p. 722] CAIRBRE RIATA Dál Riata, fl 220. The founder of the kingdom of Dál Riata in Antrim. Cairbre was one of the sons of Conaire, the high king of Ireland. He lived in Munster but was forced north around the year 220 by famine. He and his followers settled in the north-easternmost point of Antrim where the Irish enclave of Dál Riata was established - the name means Riata's share. Apparently the settlers argued and Cairbre led a further band over the sea to Argyll and Kintyre and thereby founded the original Scottish kingdom of Dál Riata over which FERGU5 MAC ERC later established kingship. Although most of the story is legend there is no reason to deny its possibility. Cairbre could also claim descent from FERGUS MAC FERADACH, an earlier legendary founder of the Scottish kingdom. Amongst Cairbre's descendants are several identified by Hector Boece as early kings of the Scots and, although the two lists do not coincide, there are sufficient connections to suggest Boece used the Irish genealogies as his source.¹

     Conaire Moglama (?) High King of Ireland married Saraid (?), daughter of Conn "of the Hundred Battles" (?) High King of Ireland.²

Conaire Moglama (?) High King of Ireland died circa 220.¹
     GAV-54 EDV-54 GKJ-55.