Domnall
Brecc Domnall
BreccIf we follow the annals, it would seem that in about 633, Domnall became king of Dál Riata in succession to Connad Cerr, who had reigned briefly after Domnall's father Eochu Buide (d. ca. 632). However, the king lists interpose the reign of Ferchar (stated to be a son of Connad Cerr) in between Connad Cerr and Domnall, reigning supposedly for 16 years [Duan Albanach, 131; Poppleton MS and Lists "D", "F", and "K", KKES, 253, 265, 270, 286 (or 21 years, according to List "I", KKES, 281)]. Most of the same sources give Domnall a 14 year reign [except, List "I", 4 years, and list "D" where Domnall is missing; List "K" interposes a second Ferchar, who appears after Domnall in the other lists]. Since the death of Ferchar mac Connaid Cirr is not recorded until ca. 694 ["Mors Fercair m. Connaeth Cirr." AU (s.a. 693)], and there is not room for thirty years of reigns between the deaths of Eochu and Domnall, there is a problem here with the king lists. Domnall lost his life in about 643 at the Battle of Strathcarron, killed by Owen, king of Strathclyde ["Postea Domnall Brecc in bello Sraith Cairuin in fine anni in Decembri interfectus est ab Hoan rege Britonum annis .xu. regnauit." AU (s.a. 641); "Postea Domnall Brecc i cath Sratha Caruín in fine anní in Decimpre interfectus est. quinto decimo anno regní suí ab Ohan reghe Britonum." AT 17: 186]. Domnall's reign was considered a disaster by Cummíne, abbot of Iona (ca. 656-ca. 669). For Domnall's reign, see Bannerman (1974), 99-103. A curious entry in the Annals of Ulster, immediately following the account of the famous Battle of Nechtansmere, gives what appears to be a duplicate obituary for Domnall, misplaced by more than forty years ["Talorgg m. Acithaen & Domnall Brecc m. Echach mortui sunt." AU (s.a. 685)]. Because of this entry, Marjorie Anderson has suggested that the obituary of Ferchar has been displaced by a similar amount [KKES 110, 228].
Date of Birth: Unknown.
Place of
Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: December, ca. 643.
Place of
Death: Battle of
Strathcarron.
[see above]
Father: Eochu Buide mac Áedáin, d. ca. 632, king of Dál Riata, ca. 604-ca. 632.
Domnall Brecc appears as a son of Eochu
Buide in Flann's Synchronisms [Thurneysen (1933); Boyle (1971)], Senchus
Fer nAlban [Bannerman (1974), 41], and in the genealogies
[see the page of Eochaid
mac Echach for quotes from these].
Mother: Unknown.
Spouse: Unknown.
Children:
Domangart mac Domnaill, d. ca. 673, king of Dál Riata.
["Iugulatio Domangairt m.
Domnaill Bric, regis Dal Riati" AU s.a. 672]
Cathusach mac Domnaill, d. ca. 650.
["Mors Cathusaigh m. Domnaill
Bric." AU s.a. 649]
Grandson:
Cathusach ua Domnaill, d. ca. 689.
["Mors Cathusaigh nepotis Domnaill
Bricc." AU (s.a. 688)]
Chronological note
What is the chronological convention on these pages?
For events dated from 700 to 1012 in the manuscript of AU, the conventional "corrected" chronology is used, obtained by adding one year to the manuscript date of AU. All dates on this page prior to 700 and qualified by "about" or "ca." are from McCarthy's tables [McCarthy (2005)] unless otherwise stated. All bibliographical references given here in the form "AU (s.a., year)" are given with respect to the "uncorrected" chronology. References from other annals, such as the so-called Annals of Tigernach (AT) and Chronicon Scotorum (CS), are given by page number of the published version, with the "corrected" chronology of AU used as a guide for the date after 700, and McCarthy's tables before 700. A more detailed discussion is given on the page of Eochu Buide.
AT = Whitley Stokes, ed. & trans., ‘The Annals of Tigernach’, Revue Celtique16 (1895), 374-419; 17 (1896), 6-33, 116-263, 337-420; 18 (1897), 9-59, 150-303, 374-91. See also the CELT website.
AU = Seán Mac Airt and Gearóid Mac Niocaill, eds., The Annals of Ulster (Dublin, 1983). See also the CELT website.
Bannerman (1974) = John Bannerman, Studies in the History of Dalriada (Edinburgh & London, 1974).
Boyle (1971) = A. Boyle, "The Edinburgh Synchronisms of Irish Kings", Celtica 9 (1971): 169-179.
Duan Albanach = Jackson (1956) [critical edition], Jackson (1957) [parallel text and translation]; unless otherwise specified, citations are to the latter.
Jackson (1956) = Kenneth Jackson, "The Poem A eolcha Alban uile", Celtica 3 (1956): 149-167.
Jackson (1957) = Kenneth Jackson, "The Duan Albanach", Scottish Historical Review 36 (1957): 125-137.
KKES = Marjorie Ogilvy Anderson, Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland (Edinburgh, Totowa, NJ, 1973).
McCarthy (1998) = Daniel P. McCarthy, "The Chronology of the Irish Annals", PRIA 98C (1998), 203-255 [pdf available at http://www.ria.ie/publications/journals/ProcCI/1998/PC98/PC98.html]
McCarthy (2005) = Daniel P. Mc Carthy, "Chronological synchronisation of the Irish annals", available at http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Dan.McCarthy/chronology/synchronisms/annals-chron.htm.
Senchus = John Bannerman, ed., Senchus Fer nAlban, in Bannerman (1974), 27-156 (text at 41-7, translation 47-9)
Thurneysen (1933) = R. Thurneysen, "Synchronismen der irischen Könige", Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 19 (1933): 81-99.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 26 April 2007.