Áed Find (Áed the White), or Áed mac Echdach (before 736–778), was king of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is ...

(modern western

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

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 kingroup, 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 Alba and of Scotland traced their desc ...

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

Kenneth MacAlpin Kenneth MacAlpin ( mga, Cináed mac Ailpin, label= Medieval Gaelic, gd, Coinneach mac Ailpein, label=Modern Scottish Gaelic; 810 – 13 February 858) or Kenneth I was King of Dál Riada (841–850), King of the Picts (843–858), and the K ...

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

king of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...

. This descent ran through Áed's son

Eochaid mac Áeda Find Eochaid mac Áeda Find is a supposed King of Dál Riata found in some rare High Medieval king-lists and in older history books. Supposedly a son of Áed Find (died 778) and successor to Áed's brother Fergus mac Echdach Fergus mac Echdach was ...

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 supposedly connect the kings of Alba (Scotland) to leg ...

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

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of 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 Luinín ...

in 768 report "Bellum i Fortrinn iter Aedh & Cinaedh": a battle in Fortriu between Áed and Cináed. This is usually read as meaning Áed Find and the

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic 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 geographic ...

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 ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic lan ...

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'' (under the

regnal name A regnal name, or 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 ac ...

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 sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

. 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 who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...

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