Dargart mac Finguine (died 685) was a member of the

Cenél Comgaill Comgall mac Domangairt was king of Dál Riata in the early 6th century. He was the son of Domangart Réti and grandson of Fergus Mór. The ''Annals of Ulster'' report his death in 538, 542 and 545, the ''Annals of Tigernach'' in 537. Comgall ...

kindred, after which

Cowal Cowal () is a rugged peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland to the north, and is bounded by Loch Fyne to the west, by Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde to the east, and by the Kyles of Bute ...

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 ...

is named. The only event directly connected with him in the

Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over ti ...

, based on a chronicle then being kept on

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

, is his death. Dargart is believed to have been the father of two kings of the Picts, Bridei mac Der-Ilei and

Nechtan mac Der-Ilei Naiton son of Der-Ilei (; died 732), also called Naiton son of Dargart (), was king of the Picts between 706–724 and between 728–729. He succeeded his brother Bridei IV in 706. He is associated with significant religious reforms in Pictlan ...

Background

Dargart is a very uncommon name, and it is presumed that the few references to someone of that name in the record all refer to the same person. That a member of the Cenél Comgaill should be noticed at all by the Iona chronicle, which focussed its attention on the

Cenél nGabráin The Cenél nGabráin was a kin group, 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 kingdom of Alba, Alba and of Scotland ...

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 ...

, is most unusual. Excepting those descendants of

Comgall mac Domangairt Comgall mac Domangairt was king of Dál Riata in the early 6th century. He was the son of Domangart Réti and grandson of Fergus Mór. The ''Annals of Ulster'' report his death in 538, 542 and 545, the ''Annals of Tigernach'' in 537. Comgall No ...

who are included in traditional lists of

Kings of Dál Riata Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

, only Dargart, and his father Finguine Fota are mentioned by the chroniclers, in both cases on the occasion of their deaths. Dargart's father's ancestry is recorded in one surviving

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

, the ''Genelaig Albanensium'', appended to a version of the '' Senchus fer n-Alban''. This makes him a great-grandson of Comgall, although a generation may have been omitted, and records another son of his, Ferchar by name. The report of Dargart's death—by violence, the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''iugulatio'' is used—appears in the ''

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (Abbreviation, abbr. AT, ) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin language, Latin and Old Irish, Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come f ...

'' and the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, 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 Luin� ...

'' in the year of the

battle of Nechtansmere The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere (; ) was fought between the Picts, led by King Bridei Mac Bili, and the Northumbrians, led by King Ecgfrith, on 20 May 685. The Northumbrian hegemony over northern Britain, won by Ecgfrith ...

, that is 685, and has later been duplicated by the ''Annals of Ulster'' under the year 692.

Descendants

Dargart appears to have married a woman named Der-Ilei, perhaps a daughter, or less probably a sister, of King

Bridei son of Beli Bridei son of Beli, died 692 was king of Fortriu and of the Picts from 671 until 692. His reign marks the start of the period known to historians as the Verturian hegemony, a turning point in the history of Scotland, when the uniting of Picti ...

. They had at least two sons, the Pictish kings Bridei, who died '' c''. 706, and Nechtan, who died in 732. Congal mac Dargarto, who died in 712, was very likely this Dargart's son, although whether with Der-Ilei is less certain. It is also uncertain whether Ciniod, or Cináed, mac Der-Ilei, killed in 713 was Dargart's son.''Annals of Ulster'', AU 706.2, AU 712.4 & AU 713.4; ''Annals of Tigernach'', AT 706.2, AT 713.5 & AT 732.7; Clancy, "Philosopher King", pp. 135–137 & genealogy B.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dargart Mac Finguine Pictish people 685 deaths 7th-century Scottish people Year of birth unknown