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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1996-04 > 0829039978


From: <>
Subject: Re: Crinan the Thane
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 08:52:58 +0000


On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, Jared Olar wrote:

>On Wed, 3 Apr 1996, Rafal Prinke wrote:
>
>> Is there any serious attempt to link Crinan the Thane, Lay Abbot of
Dunkeld,
>> father of Duncan I, to the main O'Neill line?
>> Burke's Peerage (105th ed.), p. 2025, says that Abbots of Dunkeld and
>> kings of Scots from Duncan I were male line descendants from
>> the 5th son of Niall - Conall Gulban.

As far as I know, there is no evidence for this.

>Irish sources refer to the KINEL LUGDACH as a line of Celtic bishops or
>abbots which resided in Scotland.

Which ones? (No, this is not a rhetorical question, I would like to know!)

>The Irish annals refer to several of the Bishops or Lay Abbots of Dunkeld
>prior to Crinan, but it isn't enough to reconstruct a pedigree. I think
>all we can say is that Crinan was probably a male-line descendant of
>Setnae, probably belonging to that branch of Setnae's family called the
>Kinel Lugdach.

This is unlikely. It is far more likely that Crinan is a male-line
descendant of a 'segment' of the ruling dynasty in Scotland, (the Cenel
nGabrain) which had been excluded from the kingship for a number of
generations. Why?
1. Duncan's quick acceptance as king of Scots. (Descent through a female did
not matter as far as the _claim_ to kingship.)
2. Leaders of ecclesiastical sites were often drawn from the local ruling
dynasty in Gaelic areas.

Cheers,
Mike Davidson
Dept. of History
University of Edinburg

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