Domnall mac Ailpín

Domnall mac Ailpín
King of the Picts
Reign	858–862
Predecessor	Kenneth I
Successor	Constantine I
Issue
Giric?
House	House of Alpin
Father	Alpín mac Echdach
Born	812
Died	13 April 862(862-04-13) Cinnbelachoir?, Rathinveralmond?
Burial	Iona

Domnall mac Ailpín (Modern Gaelic: Dòmhnall mac Ailpein,^[1] anglicised sometimes as Donald MacAlpin, and known in most modern regnal lists as Donald I); (born 812 died 13 April 862) was king of the Picts from 858 to 862. He followed his brother Kenneth I to the Pictish throne.

Reign

The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Domnall reigned for four years, matching the notices in the Annals of Ulster of his brother's death in February 858 and his own in April 862.^[2] The Chronicle notes:

In his time the Gaels with their king made the rights and laws of the kingdom, [that are called the laws] of Áed, Eochaid's son in Forteviot.^[3]

The laws of Áed Find are entirely lost, but it has been assumed that, like the laws attributed to Giric and Constantine II (Causantín mac Áeda), these related to the church and in particular to granting the privileges and immunities common elsewhere.^[4] The significance of Forteviot as the site of this law-making, along with Kenneth's death there and Constantine's later gathering at nearby Scone, may point to this as being the heartland of the sons of Alpín's support.

The Chronicle of Melrose says of Domnall, "in war he was a vigorous soldier ... he is said to have been assassinated at Scone."^[5] No other source reports Domnall's death by violence.

The Prophecy of Berchán may refer to Domnall in stanzas 123–124:

Evil will be Scotland's lot because of [the death of Kenneth MacAlpin]; long will it be until his like will come. Long until the king takes [sovereignty], the wanton son of the foreign wife. He will be three years in the kingdom and three months (although thou countest them). His tombstone will be above Loch Awe. He dies of disease.^[6]

Although Domnall is generally been supposed to have been childless, it has been suggested that Giric was a son of Domnall, reading his patronym as mac Domnaill rather than the commonly supposed mac Dúngail.^[7] This, however, is not widely accepted.^[8]

Domnall died, either at the palace of Cinnbelachoir (location unknown), or at Rathinveralmond (also unknown, and may be the same place, presumed to be near the junction of the Almond and the Tay, near Scone).^[9] He was buried on Iona.

Notes

1. ^ Domnall mac Ailpín is the Mediaeval Gaelic form.
2. ^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 858 & 862.
3. ^ Anderson, ESSH, p. 291, citing Skene.
4. ^ Smyth, p. 188.
5. ^ Anderson, ESSH, p. 291.
6. ^ Anderson, ESSH, p. 292, citing Skene.
7. ^ Smyth, p. 187.
8. ^ Compare Duncan, p. 11ff.
9. ^ Anderson, ESSH, p. 291; Duncan, pp. 10–11.

See also

• Kingdom of Alba
• Origins of the Kingdom of Alba

References

• Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
• Duncan, A. A. M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8
• Smyth, Alfred P., Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Edinburgh UP, Edinburgh, 1984. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7

External links

• Annals of Ulster, part 1, at CELT
• The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba

Domnall mac Ailpín House of Alpin Died: 13 April 862
Regnal titles
Preceded by Kenneth I	King of the Picts (traditionally King of Scots) 858–862	Succeeded by Constantine I

Persondata
Name	Domnall Mac Ailpin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	812
Place of birth
Date of death	13 April 862
Place of death	Cinnbelachoir?, Rathinveralmond?