Domnall mac Caustantín is thought to have been king of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...

in the early ninth century. Domnall's existence is uncertain, and is based on attempts to reconcile eleventh century works such as the poem

Duan Albanach The Duan Albanach (Song of the Scots) is a Middle Gaelic poem. Written during the reign of Mael Coluim III, who ruled between 1058 and 1093, it is found in a variety of Irish sources, and the usual version comes from the ''Book of Lecan'' and ' ...

and the Synchronisms of

Flann Mainistrech Flann Mainistrech (died 25 November 1056) was an Irish poet and historian. Flann was the son of Echthigern mac Óengusso, who had been lector at the monastery of Monasterboice (modern County Louth), in Irish ''Mainistir Buite'', whence Flann's ...

with the evidence of 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 ...

. The Duan says that Domnall reigned for twenty-four years and places him between "Aodh", Áed Find, and the two Conalls, Conall mac Taidg and Conall mac Áedáin. Flann gives Domnall's father's name as "Constantine". The only person of that relatively uncommon name known is Causantín mac Fergusa,

king of the Picts The list of kings of the Picts is based on the Pictish Chronicle king lists. These are late documents and do not record the dates when the kings reigned. The various surviving lists disagree in places as to the names of kings, and the lengths ...

from 792 to 820. Since Áed Find died in 778, and his brother Fergus mac Echdach was king of Dál Riata at his death in 781, it is thought unlikely that Caustantín's son could have been king as early as 781. Additionally, a king named Donncoirce is reported to have died in 792, and Conall mac Taidg died in 807, making it very difficult to accommodate a 24-year reign at this time. Since no kings of Dál Riata are known for the period from 811, when the four-year reign of Conall mac Áedáin is presumed to have ended, and the four-year reign of Áed mac Boanta who died in 839, Domnall mac Caustantín may have been king from around 811 to around 835.Broun, pp.79–83. See also Bannerman, p. 85, for an alternative interpretation.

Notes

References

* 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 Dauvit Broun (; born 1961) is a Scottish historian and academic. He is the chair of Scottish history at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, he concentrates primarily on early medieval Scotland, and has ...

& Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.) ''Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland.'' T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 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
at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Domnall Mac Caustantin Kings of Dál Riata 9th-century Irish monarchs 9th-century Scottish monarchs