Dúnchad mac Conaing (or Dúnchad mac Dubáin) (died 654) 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 ...

). He was joint ruler with

Conall Crandomna Conall Crandomna was king of Dál Riata (modern western Scotland) from about 650 until 660. The Senchus fer n-Alban makes him a son of Eochaid Buide and thus a member of the Cenél nGabráin. The Duan Albanach has him succeed Ferchar mac Connaid ...

until he was defeated and killed by Talorcan, king of the

Picts 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 ea ...

, in the battle of Strath Ethairt. Sources differ on Dúnchad's patronym and thus his presumed ancestry. The death of Dúnchad mac Conaing in battle is reported in the

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-cen ...

in 654: "... there fell Dúnchad, son of Conaing, and Congal, son of Ronan". John Bannerman proposed that this Dúnchad was the same person as the Dúnchad or Dúngal who is found as joint ruler with Conall Crandomna. Dúnchad mac Conaing appears in the

Senchus fer n-Alban The ''Senchus fer n-Alban'' (''The History of the men of Scotland'') is an Old Irish medieval text believed to have been compiled in the 10th century. It provides genealogies for kings of Dál Riata and a census of the kingdoms which comprised Dá ...

: "These are the sons of Conaing, son of Áedán .i. Rigallán, Ferchar, Artán, Artúr, ''Dondchad'', Domungart, Nechtan, Ném, Crumíne. However, 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 ...

'' list Dúnchad mac Dubáin as king, while the ''

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 ' ...

'' associated one Dúngal with Conall. Dubán may be a

hypocoristic A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as '' Izzy'' for ...

form of Dub, and represent a byname ("little Black"). An alternative reconstruction made Dúnchad a descendant of Áedán mac Gabráin's passed-over brother Eoganán. He is presumed to have had at least one son, Conall Cáel (died 681), and it is possible that he was the grandfather, or great-grandfather by some readings, of Fiannamail ua Dúnchado and an ancestor of Dúnchad Bec.Thus Bannerman, ''Studies'', and M.O. Anderson, ''Kings and Kingship'', Table C, p. 230. A.O. Anderson, ''ESSH'', p. 190, gives a very different version, criticised by M.O. Anderson, ''Kings and Kingship'', pp. 154–155.

Notes

References

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286, volume one.'' Reprinted with corrections, Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1990. * Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvie, Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, revised edition 1980. * Bannerman, John, ''Studies in the History of Dalriada.'' Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1974.

External links

''Duan Albanach''
a

Dunchad mac Conaing Dunchad mac Conaing 7th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown {{Scotland-royal-stub